Aftermath
by Jennifer Cannon
Summary: Gary Johnston's in prison, and someone is plotting revenge against the Stetson Family. This is a sequel to Lost and Found
1. Chapter 1

Aftermath:A sequel to Lost and Found by Jennifer Cannon

RATING:PG-13 for violence

SUMMARY: Gary Johnston's in jail, and someone is plotting revenge

against the Stetson Family. The original story may be found here.

found here :

http://www.fanficti 3827903/1/ Lostand Found

DISCLAIMER: Scarecrow and Mrs. King belong to Warner Brothers and  
Shoot the Moon Enterprises, and not to me. I wish they did, but they  
don't. The original characters in this story, as well as the plot, do  
belong to me, and if someone wishes to use these please contact me first.

WARNING: None.

NOTES: Thanks to JRD and Julie Faith Rigby for their wonderful  
beta-reading, and a big thanks to all of you who helped to answer my  
weird questions that I posted :)

TIMELINE: Post-fourth season,2001. Lee and Amanda are married and have  
a daughter. If you have not read Lost and Found, you might want to do  
so or it may not make sense.

FEEDBACK: Lots please, either positive or negative, hopefully more  
positive but I enjoy constructive criticism.

Aftermath

A sequel to Lost and Found

Prologue I

Monday, June 26, 2001

4:00 PM

"Hey dad!" Jenna Leigh Stetson came running into the house, dark  
blond hair flying behind her. "You should see the watermelon that Mom  
and I got at the state fair-it's huge. The best thing is that it's  
seedless, so you don't have to worry about spitting out the seeds-"  
her voice faltered when she saw that dad wasn't listening to her.  
Instead he was sitting at the kitchen table, staring down at the sheet  
of paper in his hands.

"Dad what is it?" Jenna said. "What's wrong?" Dad's hazel eyes looked  
up into hers-his expression was grave.

"Nothing's wrong, Jenna," he said finally, indicating the chair next  
to him. "Sit down- there's something we need to talk about." He handed  
her a piece of paper. "This is for you-it was delivered to me while  
you and your mother were out."

Jenna looked down at the paper she was holding. "A subpoena?" She  
said. Dad nodded, and Jenna continued reading the paper. Finally Jenna  
looked up at him. "This is saying that I have to testify in Gary  
Johnston's trial. Don't I have a choice?"

"Not in this case," Dad said "I received one too-I'm responsible for  
making sure that you appear in court that day."

"What did you receive one of?" Mom came into the kitchen.

"A subpoena," Jenna said. She stared hard at the paper in her  
hands-not sure that she trusted herself to look at her parents.  
"They're going to make me testify against Gary Johnston." The thought  
of being in the same room with that man, with his eyes looking right  
at her, made Jenna feel cold inside. She felt Mom's arms wrap around her.

"Sweetheart, he can't hurt you anymore," Mom said. "You're safe  
now-and your testimony could help to put him away for a long time. I  
know you're scared, but it'll be all right."

"But it'll just be me and him," Jenna said. Her own voice sounded very  
small to her ears. "And I'll be all alone." She could still remember  
his cold eyes, the feeling of his hand squeezing the back of her  
neck-cowering on the floor as he towered over her, a gun pointed  
directly at her head…

"Jenna," her dad's voice snapped her out of her memories, his hands  
wrapping around her own. "Look at me. You will not be all alone. Your  
mother and I will be there the whole time. And after this trial is  
over, Gary Johnston will never hurt you again. Okay?"

Jenna took a shaky breath. "Okay," she said finally. "I'll do it." 

Prologue II  
July 26, 2001

"Ladies and gentleman of the Jury have you reached a verdict on all  
charges?" the Judge said.

"We have, your honor," the woman said.

"And was that verdict unanimous?' The Judge asked.

"It was, your honor," the woman said.

Jenna found it hard to breathe. One hand clutched at the Scarecrow  
pendant she wore around her neck all of the time now, feeling its  
comforting weight against her palm. She could feel her father holding  
her other hand and her mother's hand on her back, but all of her  
attention was focused on the jury.

"And on the charge of murder in the first degree," the Judge said,  
"How do you find the defendant?" 

"On the charge of murder in the first degree, we the jury, find the  
defendant guilty." The woman said.

"On the charge of attempted murder, how do you find the defendant?"  
The Judge said.

"On the charge of attempted murder, we the jury, find the defendant  
guilty."

"On the charge of kidnapping in the first degree," the Judge said,  
"How do you find the defendant?" 

"On the charge of kidnapping in the first degree, we the jury, find  
the defendant guilty,"

Jenna let out a sigh as a wave of relief washed over her.

"The accused will now stand," The Judge said. "Gary Michael Johnston,  
you have been found guilty on all charges. Your sentencing hearing is  
scheduled for August the second-you are to be imprisoned in the  
Arlington County facility until that date. Court is adjourned."

As Johnston was being led from the courtroom, his eyes fell on Jenna.  
He came to a full stop, resisting the Bailiff's efforts to budge him.

"This isn't over, little girl," he hissed. "Not by a long shot." His  
icy blue eyes peered into her own and Jenna realized that she was  
shaking. Seeing her visible fear, Gary smiled. She could feel her  
mom's arms around her, holding her protectively. Slowly her dad stood  
until he was nearly nose to nose with Johnston.

"Give me one reason, Johnston," Dad said. "Just one. Please." Dad's  
fists were clenched. He wasn't even raising his voice, but Jenna  
didn't think she'd ever seen her father look and sound so angry.

"Let's move, Johnston," The Bailiff said and after a moment Gary let  
himself be led from the courtroom. Dad sat down beside Jenna,  
grabbing her hands and holding them tightly in his own.

"Jenna, I don't care what that-what he said to you," Dad said. "It  
really is over. At the very least he'll be going to prison for a very  
long time. Your mom and I are so proud of you."

"It's over," Jenna said, and for the first time in a long time she  
actually believed what she was saying.

Prologue III

Friday, August 10, 2001

1:30 PM

A hand brushed Gary Johnston's cheek gently. "Hey there," a female  
voice said. Gary opened his eyes and looked up at the blurry image of  
his sister standing over him.

"Didn't expect to see you in here, Katie," he croaked. 

"You knew I'd come," Katie smiled. "My big brother was always there  
for me before those social workers separated us." 

"Yeah," Gary grinned, remembering. Then his smile faded. "Now your big  
brother's in the prison infirmary." 

"Who put you here?" Katie said.

"You mean you don't know?" Gary Johnston coughed, pain shooting  
through his cracked ribs. "They do things in prison to people who harm  
children-even my fellow murderous psychopaths have scruples when it  
comes to the kiddies."

Katie's face clouded. "If there's anything I can do, just name it,"  
she said.

Gary thought back to the humiliation he'd felt in that courtroom,  
looking at the face of the girl who'd dared to testify. He'd taken  
some satisfaction after the trial, knowing that he was still able to  
make her afraid, but it wasn't good enough. He was in here for life  
and Gary wouldn't be happy until he knew that Jenna Stetson was  
suffering as much as he was. "That girl Jenna," he said slowly. "The  
one who helped to put me away. I want you to make her pay, Katie. You  
and Dennis. Make her hurt."

Katie hesitated, and then she slowly smiled, squeezing Gary's hand. "I  
will," she said. "We will. I promise." 

Prologue IV

Monday, November 5, 2001

7:00 AM

Oh can't you see?  
You belong to me'

Dennis sat at his desk, humming along to the song on the radio as he  
arranged the photos on the desk. The song was an old one from The  
Police, Every Breath You Take'. And given the current situation, the  
song seemed so perfect.

He ran a hand over the photographs- they were mostly of her, of  
course; though some of her family had been thrown in there for good  
measure. Pictures of her walking with friends, trying out for the  
dance team-and then there was the best photo of them all. If he could  
only be there, he thought, to see the look in her face when she opened  
the envelope.

You belong to me, Jenna Leigh Stetson, the man thought to himself with  
a small smile-and I can get to you anytime and anywhere I want.

TBC .,. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Part Two**

**Monday, November 5, 2001**

**3:30 PM**

"Well?" Lisa said impatiently.

Jenna feigned nonchalance, trying hard not to giggle at the expression  
on Lisa's face. "Well what?" she said.

"The list," Lisa said. "Are we on it or not?"

Jenna pointed to the paper which had been taped to the tiles on the  
wall. "List?" she said. "You mean this list here? The dance team list?"

"Jenna, I swear I'll smack you in a second if you don't tell me," Lisa  
said.

Jenna smiled at her best friend. "Relax," she said. "We made it."  
Lisa jumped up and down, squealing, and Jenna jumped up down with her.

"We're Kenmore Divas!" Lisa said. "I can't wait to tell my parents."

"Just let me get my books," Jenna said, walking down to her locker.  
"You're walking home with me, right?"

"Right to the door," Lisa said.

"Hey ladies." Mr. Frere, the new History teacher, was holding his  
briefcase in one hand and locking his classroom door with the other.  
"You certainly seem to be in a good mood."

"We just made dance team, Mr. Frere" Lisa said.

"Congratulations, Divas." Mr. Frere said His blue eyes crinkled as he  
smiled at them. "So I'll see your talent at the next school Pep Rally?"

"I guess," Jenna said with a small smile.

"Certainly looking forward to it," Mr. Frere said. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye Mr. Frere," Jenna called.

"Jenna wants to marry you, Mr. Frere," Lisa sang under her breath.

"Lisa, stop it!" Jenna said. She could feel herself blushing.

"It's true, isn't it?" Lisa said.

"No, it's not true," Jenna said. "I like Mr. Frere, but I'm too young  
to get married."

"Avoiding the question, eh?" Lisa said as they reached Jenna's  
locker. Jenna smiled but didn't reply. "Just between us, I heard from  
Christy that he's been sharing all of his lunches with Mrs. Roberts.  
Maybe the history teacher and the dance teacher are in lurve, huh?"

"Lurve?" Jenna said. "Are you sure that's a word?"

"Sure," Lisa said. "My cousin lived in London for a month and she says  
they use the word there all the time. Anyway, speaking of History, I  
was reading that in other countries girls can get married when they're  
twelve years old..."

Lisa stood behind Jenna, keeping up a constant stream of chatter as  
Jenna did the combination and pulled out the books that she needed,  
dumping them into her bag. There was an envelope in there today-it  
hadn't been in there this morning. The only thing written on the  
envelope was her full name, Jenna Leigh Stetson. She didn't recognize  
the handwriting at all.

"Did you send me a card or something?" Jenna asked Lisa, waving the  
envelope in front of her friend.

"No of course not," Lisa said. "It must be your secret admirer again.  
How many gifts does that make now?"

"Three," Jenna said. Thursday it had been a really pretty card with  
the words "I'll be seeing you" inscribed on the inside. Actually the  
card had creeped Jenna out a little bit, but she'd pushed it to the  
back of her mind. Friday it had been a huge store-bought bag of candy  
corn, which was her most favorite candy. She kept those things in her  
backpack-wanting to avoid any questions about where they came from.

"Think it's Paul?" Lisa said.

"I doubt it," Jenna said. "Terri says that he thinks I talk too much."  
Personally Jenna didn't think that all the talking had been her fault.  
It was Paul who'd asked her all of the questions; all she did was  
answer them.

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Terri Morgan's an idiot."

"Well whoever it is, they have my combination,

" Jenna said, a teasing  
smile on her face as she looked at her friend. "And since I only gave  
that to you and Christy and Christy's been out with the flu, is there  
something you want to tell me?"

"Who me?" Lisa said. "I don't give out people's combinations without  
permission. Listen, I think we might need to go shoe-shopping- Caitlin  
Harris told me that the whole dance team wears black Reeboks and I  
don't know about you, but I don't have black Reeboks-"

Lisa's voice faded away as Jenna stared down numbly at the photos in  
her now shaking hands. There was a note-carefully she unfolded it and  
the words filled Jenna with dread. She could hear her own heart  
pounding-so loudly that it seemed to drown out all the other sounds.  
Jenna stared up at the mirror on her locker door. A white face with  
frightened brown eyes stared back at her-Jenna put her hand up to her  
forehead, unconsciously tracing the thin line of the scar that was  
hidden by her bangs.

The words from the note she'd just read were echoing in her head:  
'Those who bring down a good man like Gary Johnston must pay. You and  
your family will suffer for your transgressions. These pictures will  
show you that I can get to you-and them-anytime and anywhere. '

My family, Jenna thought, clenching one hand and feeling her nails dig  
painfully into her palm. The thought of something happening to them  
was almost worse than the thought of something happening to her. She  
looked down again at the letter.

"Anytime and anywhere," she repeated the words under her breath. A  
chill went through her as she remembered the words of Gary Johnston.

This isn't over.

"Jenna?" Lisa said. Her voice sounded far away. "Are you okay?"

Jenna tried to answer Lisa, but for some reason her mouth didn't seem  
to work properly. Bile rose up in her throat and for a minute the room  
seemed to sway back and forth. There was a loud thumping noise.

"Jenna!" Lisa was shouting her name and suddenly Jenna realized that  
she was on her knees, her books lying in a heap beside her. Other  
students had stopped to stare.

"Everything' s okay," Lisa told them. "Just go." Once they'd moved on,  
she turned to Jenna, speaking in a lower voice. "What happened? Did  
you get dizzy or something?"

"Nothing," Jenna said. "I'm fine."

"Must have been some note to get that kind of reaction," Lisa said.  
"What did it say?"

"It was just stupid, don't worry about it." Jenna quickly stuffed the  
pictures and everything back in the envelope, putting it in her bag so  
Lisa couldn't see. Her friend was still staring at her.

"We should tell your dad," Lisa said. "It could have something to do  
with your head injury."

"We're not going to tell my dad! I said I'm fine," Jenna said. "Can we  
go now?" She saw the hurt expression on Lisa's face and continued in  
a softer tone. "You can tell me some more about those black Reeboks  
and what else we need to go shopping for."

Lisa laughed. "Girl, you're terrible-you know that talking about  
shopping is my weakness. Anyway, according to Caitlin these shoes cost  
an arm and a leg but they're essential. I don't know about you, but  
I'll have to do endless chores and babysitting to earn them. Maybe the  
dance team will let me wait till Christmas…"

Jenna just let Lisa talk as they walked off school grounds and onto  
the sidewalk leading home. Everyone, from the crossing guard, to the  
other children, to the teachers-even cars going by could be watching  
her, studying her. Jenna shivered, looking away from them and down at  
her feet. With every step she took the last words of the note  
repeated themselves in her head. Anytime and anywhere, anytime and  
anywhere.

**Monday  
November 5, 2001  
4:10 PM**

"It's not that I mind hearing from you, sir," Lee said, as he sat on  
the family room sofa, the cordless phone up against his ear. He could  
hear Amanda in the kitchen, checking on the roast that was now boiling  
in the crock-pot. "It's just unexpected."

Colonel Robert Clayton's voice crackled over the phone. "I know,  
Skip," he said, using Lee's old childhood nickname. "But I'm going to  
be in town late this month for a 9-11 conference and I just wanted to  
let you know I'll be dropping by."

"How long will you be in town?" Lee asked.

"Two or three days," his Uncle said. "Should be around Thanksgiving,  
so I'm looking forward to becoming acquainted with my great-niece. How  
is Jenna?"

"She's just fine now, sir," Lee said, thinking to himself about just  
how far they had come. For about two months after the kidnapping Jenna  
had suffered from nightmares, migraines and crippling flashbacks. The  
sessions with Dr. Pfaff helped, but even the psychiatrist had told Lee  
that the best cure of all was time. Lee would never forget the one  
time he'd found his daughter standing by the open front door where the  
kidnapping had taken place. Her dark eyes had been frightened and  
unseeing while her breath had come in panicked gasps. It had taken him  
and Amanda a full half-hour just to calm her down. Thankfully with the  
trial behind them things seemed like they were back to normal.

"I'm glad to hear that," The Colonel said. "I'm sorry that ever had to  
happen to Jenna," he said. "I'm even sorrier that I had to hear about  
it second-hand through the media reports. You should've called me."

Maybe if I'd known that you even cared I would have, Lee thought to  
himself, but he didn't say that out loud. He knew that Amanda was  
listening from the other room, and he knew how badly she wanted him  
and his Uncle to get along. "I'm sorry about that, sir," he said. "It  
was just a very hectic time." Just then the front door opened and  
Jenna came in, hanging her bag on the door and quickly locking it  
behind her. Something was wrong. Lee knew it as soon as he looked at  
his daughter. Jenna was just standing there, looking down at her  
shoes. Her face was pale and her hands were trembling slightly.

"I'm going to need to let you go, sir," Lee said, "Yes, we'll see you  
soon. Goodbye." Lee pressed the button to hang up the phone and placed  
it back on the charger as he stood to face his daughter. "Jenna, is  
everything all right? You look a little upset."

"Everything' s fine," Jenna spoke a little too brightly. She lifted her  
head but didn't meet Lee's gaze. "Where's Mom, is she here?"

"Of course I'm here," Amanda said as she came in from the kitchen and  
gave Jenna a hug. "How was your day, sweetheart?"

"Fine," Jenna said. "It was fine. How's Grandma?"

"Your Grandmother' s still in Florida with Captain Curt," Amanda said.  
Captain Curt and Dotty had been married this last June, and they  
seemed to divide most of their time between Arlington and Florida.  
"Last time I spoke to her she was fine. Was there something you wanted  
to talk to her about?"

"No," Jenna said. "What about Philip and Jamie? Are they okay?"

"They're fine too," Amanda said. "I talked to Jamie only yesterday."  
She put her hand on Jenna's arm. "Is something worrying you?"

"Nothing's worrying me," Jenna said, her tone suddenly defensive. "I'm  
just glad to hear that they're all right."

"So did you make the dance team?" Lee asked. He knew that Jenna and  
Lisa had been practicing for the tryouts all last week, and the  
results were supposed to be posted today. This morning she'd been so  
excited and hardly able to stop talking about it. But now …

Jenna looked up at her father briefly and then looked away again.  
"Yeah," she said, her voice flat and toneless. "I made it." Lee frowned.

"And Lisa?"

"She made it too, Mom," Jenna said.

"Jenna, that's great news," Lee said. "We should celebrate. How about  
I take my two favorite ladies out to dinner tomorrow night?"

"No!" Jenna said with such vehemence that Lee and Amanda both stared  
at her. "I mean -It's not really that big of a deal and I don't feel  
like eating out. Look I think I'll just go upstairs-I have a lot of  
homework to do." She lifted her backpack from the hook, and before Lee  
or Amanda could ask any more questions, Jenna turned abruptly and  
left. Lee could hear the sounds of her feet practically running  
upstairs and her door slamming shut. Lee and Amanda exchanged glances.

"I'll go and talk to her," Lee said.

**SMK SMK SMK SMK **

Lee knocked on Jenna's door. "Jenna?" He said. When there was no  
answer, he pushed open the door. The lamp on the desk illuminated the  
room; Jenna was sitting at her desk, an open book in front of her.  
Lee noted the window-shades were drawn. That was definitely strange,  
he thought. Jenna had told him more than once that she liked the  
natural light in her room. Lee moved to pull up the shades, causing  
Jenna to lift her head from her book.

"Don't do that," she said sharply.

"Why?" Lee asked.

"The sun distracts me," Jenna said. "I really need to study. Did you  
want something, Dad?"

Lee sat down on his daughter's bed, facing Jenna. "Not really," he  
said. "I just thought that you might need to talk."

"What would I need to talk about?" Jenna said.

"How about we start with whatever's upsetting you," Lee said.

"Upsetting me? Why would anything be upsetting me?" Jenna said.

Because instead of answering my question, you just repeated it back to  
me, Lee thought, but he didn't say that out loud. "Did something  
happen at school?" he asked.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Jenna said.

"Is it one of your friends?" Lee said. "Did you have a fight?"

"We didn't have a fight," Jenna said. "My friends are fine."

"It's not about a boy, is it?" Lee said, feeling a brief moment of  
panic at those words. Jenna was showing a definite interest in the  
opposite sex, and Lee and Amanda had agreed that she could date once  
she turned sixteen. Personally Lee had wanted to set Jenna's dating  
age to thirty, but Amanda had told him that was just a little on the  
unreasonable side.

. "No, it's not about a boy," Jenna said. "I'm only in seventh grade.  
I mean, I like boys, but I don't have those kinds of problems yet"

"Then what's bothering you?" Lee asked, pushing the anxiety about  
Jenna's interest in boys to the back of his mind. "I can't help you if  
you don't tell me."

"Dad, there's nothing to tell," Jenna said. "Why don't you believe me?"

"Oh come on," Lee said, frustration creeping into his voice. He had  
the feeling that interrogating a member of Al-Quaeda would seem like a  
piece of cake when compared to getting information out of his own  
child. "You're sitting up here like a virtual hermit with the shades  
drawn- You don't want to go out to dinner tomorrow and you usually  
love going out. I wasn't born yesterday, Jenna. I know something is  
bothering you."

"Well maybe I'm tired of restaurants. " Jenna said, "And maybe I have  
a lot of homework to do. Can you stop pestering me?"

"Well I'll tell you one thing," Lee said. "You won't get a lot of  
homework done if you try to read your book upside down," Lee picked up  
the volume from his daughter's desk. An envelope fell from the book  
and landed on the carpet. Jenna made a grab for it, but Lee bent down  
and picked it up first. He stared at his daughter's name on the front  
of the envelope.

"Jenna what is this?" Lee said.

Jenna's face was suddenly very pale and she looked as though she were  
on the verge of tears. "Dad, don't-please. "

Lee opened the envelope. "Sweetheart, whatever it is it can't be  
that-" his voice broke off as the flipped through the photos. There  
was one of he and Amanda in the front yard, one of Dotty, even ones of  
Philip and Jamie when they had visited this last Labor Day Weekend.  
And Jenna. Photos of her leaving for school, coming home, even one of  
her trying out for the dance team. And then there was the last photo,  
the one that made Lee feel sick with fear and rage. Now he understood  
why Jenna was keeping the shades closed. Included with the  
photographs was a note. Lee read it and closed his eyes momentarily,  
trying to keep his emotions under control.

"Jenna when did you get these?" He asked.

"Today-the envelope was in my locker at school," Jenna said. "I'm not  
sure how it got there. There were other things in my locker last week,  
but this was the only thing that was really scary."

"What other things?" Lee demanded.

Jenna looked down, tracing the carpet with her foot. "A card and a bag  
of candy corn," she said.

"And where are they?" Lee asked.

"In my backpack," Jenna said. "I didn't eat any of the candy corn yet."

"Jenna look at me." Lee's voice rose slightly as he spoke. "This note  
says you and your family'. By not saying anything you were putting  
all of us in danger."

"I wasn't trying to put anyone in danger-" Jenna said.

"It doesn't matter what your intentions were," Lee said. "The fact is  
that you were risking your family's life by keeping this to yourself.  
Do you understand me?"

Jenna stared at Lee, her brown eyes wide. "I don't," she said to him.  
"I-I mean that I didn't mean to-" Jenna leaned her forehead against  
one hand, tears running down her face, her shoulders shaking with  
barely audible sobs. Lee stood and pulled his daughter into a hug.

"Hey, munchkin, it'll be okay," he said, patting her back gently as he  
held her. "It's just that if anyone or anything is ever bothering you,  
I want you to tell me or your mom so we can help."

"I know," Jenna said, her voice muffled against Lee's coat. "The card  
and the candy corn-they seemed so harmless, even though the card was  
kind of weird. But this-the pictures."

"I know," Lee said.

"I just-I- hoped it was all over," Jenna said. "The kidnapping and  
everything, but now this- it makes it seem so scary, like it happened  
yesterday. And I thought maybe if I didn't talk about it-"

"Sweetheart, you can't pretend things away," Lee said. "Handling it on  
your own would be scarier –you know you don't ever have to do that."

"But it'll never be over, will it?" Jenna said. "Just like Gary  
Johnston said at the trial, remember? I thought maybe that I could  
feel safe again, and I can't. And now you guys are in danger too."

"Jenna, you will be safe, I promise you. We'll all be safe" Lee said,  
breaking the embrace and looking down at her. "Whoever this is,  
they'll be found and stopped. Okay?"

"Okay," Jenna said. Lee watched as she made an attempt at a smile. He  
gave her another quick hug and left the room. Standing in the hallway,  
he watched through a crack in the door as Jenna curled up in a fetal  
position on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest.

Lee's fury at whoever was doing this to his daughter rose. When he  
found the person responsible, they were going to pay for terrorizing her.

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

"Someone will be coming around to talk to Jenna," Francine said to  
Lee. "The lab will run tests on the envelope, the pictures, the card  
and the candy corn to check for any DNA samples and fingerprints. I  
can also do a complete background workup on Johnston to see if he has  
any relatives or associates who would have a motive to do this."

"While you're at it you better run a background check on people  
working at the school," Lee said, clutching the phone tightly to his  
ear. "It's very possible that our suspect works there." He was in the  
kitchen, ladling the pot roast into three bowls. Amanda was upstairs,  
trying to console Jenna.

"I was just getting to that," Francine's voice was slightly tinged  
with annoyance. "I've been Section Chief now for five years,  
Scarecrow. I know how to do my job."

"I know," Lee said.

"Maybe you should have taken this position when it was offered to  
you," Francine said.

"What, and deprive you of all that administrative fun?" Lee said,  
thinking back to how close he'd come to taking that position after  
Smyth's death and Billy's promotion to Agency head. But after talking  
it over with Amanda he'd decided to turn it down. They were happiest  
working together as partners in the field. It had also meant working  
extra hours, and the money and added safety of a desk job wouldn't  
have compensated Lee for the time not spent with his family.

"You want to see fun, Scarecrow, you should try sitting through one of  
those late-night budget meetings," Francine said testily.

"I'm sorry, Francine," Lee said, clutching the phone tightly to his  
ear. "This whole thing just has me on edge."

"I know, and we'll do everything to keep your family safe," Francine  
said. "That includes 24 hour surveillance and a tap on your phone  
line in case the stalker tries to call you," Francine said. "Of course  
you and your family can always move to one of our safe houses."

"No," Lee said, lowering his voice so he wouldn't be heard. "Not yet,  
anyway. I don't want to disrupt her life unless it becomes absolutely  
necessary."

"I understand," Francine said. "How's Jenna handling it?"

"Handling it?" Lee said. "She's terrified, Francine. She worries about  
her family and she doesn't think she's safe anywhere. I can't say I  
blame her. This creep even had a picture of Jenna in her own bedroom  
while she was changing her clothes."

"Oh my God," Francine said softly. "Lee, I promise you, whoever this  
is we'll find them."

From upstairs Lee could hear the faint sounds of Amanda's voice over  
Jenna's sobbing.

"I hope you do find them, Francine," Lee said quietly. "Because if I  
find them first I won't be responsible for my actions."


	3. Chapter 3

-For notes and disclaimers, see Part One-

** Part Three**

"Well I checked all the locks and pulled down all the shades and  
blinds," Amanda sighed, climbing into bed beside Lee. "Seeing all  
those pictures makes me feel like we've been violated somehow-your  
home is the one place where you should be able to feel safe."

Lee took his wife's hand. "We will be safe," he said. "How's Jenna?"

"Well she insisted on calling everyone to check that they were all  
right and now she's asleep," Amanda sighed, climbing into bed beside  
Lee. "God only knows how long that will last."

"I'm just glad The Agency sent someone that Jenna hadn't met,  
otherwise we would've had some awkward explanations to make," Lee  
said. "Though I would like to know where Beaman dug up that cop's  
uniform."

"Those pants he had on were just a little too tight, did you notice?"  
Amanda said with a small grin. "Wait till I tell Francine." Her  
expression turned serious. "We need to think about telling her what we  
do, Lee. She's starting to ask questions and notice things- it's  
going to be hard to keep her in the dark for too much longer."

"What kind of questions?" Lee wanted to know.

"Things like why we go off on unexplained trips at strange hours, how  
we end up getting hurt sometimes, why you're so good at self-defense  
and fighting, that kind of thing," Amanda said. "And remember that  
incident when she was in the Nutcracker Ballet that one Christmas?"

"She hasn't forgotten about that yet?" Lee asked.

"It was only four years ago," Amanda said. "I try to come up with  
plausible answers, but I don't think she's satisfied anymore."

Lee groaned softly. "It was so easy when she was a sweet little girl  
and believed everything we told her."

"Well now your sweet little girl is approaching 13, buster," Amanda  
said lightly. "I hate to tell you, but it only gets harder from here."

"I know that, Amanda," Lee said. "But she's safer if she doesn't know."

"Really," Amanda said. "And were Mother and the boys any less safe  
after we told them?"

"That was different" Lee insisted. "We told them about our marriage  
and our jobs because we were having Jenna, remember?"

"That wasn't the only reason," Amanda said, thinking back to that  
spring day in 1988. "At least not for me. I felt like we were living a  
lie-it was a weight off my mind to finally be able to tell them the  
truth about us."

"Yeah I have to admit that it was nice to finally be able to spend  
more time with my wife," Lee said. "But Jenna's too young-Jamie and  
Philip were much older."

"Oh come on Lee," Amanda said. "Philip was 15 and Jaime was only 13-"

"And Jenna's only 12," Lee interjected.

"-Jenna will be thirteen in just a few months," Amanda countered.  
"That's no reason. Knowing the truth might make Jenna feel safer."

"How so?" Lee said.

"Well she'd know that we could protect her," Amanda said.

"I guess," Lee said. "But I want to tell her for the right reasons-not  
because some maniac stalker is forcing our hand." Amanda tactfully  
decided to change the subject.

"Did Jenna's interview turn up any leads about who could be doing  
this?" She asked Lee.

"Not really," Lee said. "Jenna doesn't have any enemies that she's  
aware of and she hasn't noticed anyone strange hanging around. I'm  
betting that the background check on Johnston will turn up something  
more."

"I really think we should keep her home tomorrow," Amanda said.

"I thought about that too," Lee admitted. He wrapped his arms around  
his wife while she leaned her head back against his chest. "But  
she'll be under 24-hour Agency surveillance, Amanda. Jenna will be  
just as safe there as she would be at home."

"Does she know that?" Amanda asked.

"Well Beaman told her that we'd all be protected," Lee said.

"Personally I'd like to wrap her in a little cocoon to keep her safe  
until we catch this guy," Amanda said. "Jenna's been through so much  
already,Lee. I don't want her to be hurt anymore."

"We will catch him," Lee said, his arms tightening around his wife-his  
lips brushing against her neck. "And Jenna will be safe. We're a team,  
Mrs. Stetson. Remember?"

"I remember," Amanda said, turning around as her lips met his.

**SMKSMKSMKSMK**

_ "I told you it wasn't over," Gary Johnston chuckled as he leaned over  
her bed. His hand reached out and touched her cheek. The touch made  
Jenna feel sick to her stomach, but she couldn't even move away  
because he'd tied her down. Tears came to her eyes and she saw Gary  
smile at her helplessness._

The moon shone in through the window, and gleamed against the knife  
that Gary had removed from his pocket.

"First you, little one," he said, running the ball of his thumb over  
the blade, "And then your entire family."

"Please don't," Jenna whispered. But Gary just smiled. She watched as  
the knife came slowly downwards, towards her chest, and the pain made  
her scream…

"Jenna!" Someone was calling her name, holding her arms tightly, and  
despite the ropes binding her to the bed Jenna desperately tried to  
pull away.

**SMKSMKSMKSMK**

"Jenna you're dreaming," Lee said. He and Amanda were both sitting on  
Jenna's bed, Lee's arms holding his struggling daughter. "Please wake  
up." Lee said.

Jenna's breath came in rapid gasps. Her dark eyes were wide open, but  
unfocused, her pupils dilated. Lord only knew what she was seeing.  
Sweat was running down her forehead and soaking her nightgown. Her  
arms flailed wildly, her fists hitting Lee's chest as she tried to  
pull away from him.

"Let go of me! I want my Dad!" She screamed.

"Jenna it's me," Lee said. "Look at me. We're here-you need to wake  
up."

"No!" Her scream was even louder this time. "Going to kill me,  
Gary-He'll kill everybody…"

"He's not," Amanda said, reaching out to touch Jenna's arm.  
"Sweetheart, you're here. You're safe now." Somehow that seemed to  
calm her. Together he and Amanda held Jenna until they felt her relax  
back into sleep. Lee and Amanda carefully laid Jenna back onto her  
pillow.

"That wasn't just an ordinary nightmare, Amanda," Lee said. "What's  
going on here?" But he could tell from her expression that she didn't  
have any answers either.

** November 6, 2001  
7:30 AM**

"I called Dr. Pfaff this morning, and he said they're called night  
terrors," Amanda said, putting three pieces of bread into the toaster.  
"He said they happen to children between the ages of 3 and 12 and that  
given the current situation it's perfectly normal. However, we should  
bring Jenna in if they keep happening every night."

"Normal?" Lee raised his eyebrows as he sipped his coffee, trying to  
wake up. "That was normal? Amanda, Jenna's eyes were open but she  
didn't see us-we couldn't even wake her." As hard as he tried, he  
couldn't get that glazed, fearful expression out of his mind.

"Well it's a good thing we couldn't," Amanda said. "Pfaff said that  
trying to wake someone during a night terror only makes things worse.  
The thing to do is just to make everything as normal as possible and  
chances are that Jenna won't even remember what she dreamed about."

Lee took a small bite from the buttered toast that his wife had put in  
front of him. "I think maybe you were right last night- we should keep  
her home, Amanda."

"Keep who home?" Jenna came into the kitchen, wearing jeans and a  
hooded grey sweatshirt. Her dark blond hair had nearly grown back to  
its pre-January length, and she had it pulled back with a matching  
grey headband. "Do you mean me?"

"I thought that maybe after yesterday you might feel better staying at  
home," Lee said.

Jenna's brow furrowed. "Last night the policeman said I could still  
go to school," she said. "Has something else happened?"

"Nothing's happened, sweetheart," Amanda said, "We just want you to  
know that if you did feel like staying at home we'd understand. It's  
your decision." Jenna sat at the table and put her backpack down on  
the floor beside her. Amanda put a bowl of cereal, some toast and a  
glass of orange juice in front of Jenna.

"I couldn't stay home," Jenna said, speaking between bites of cereal.  
"Not even if I wanted to. Today's the first day of dance team practice  
and I have a math test and a history essay to turn in and the math  
teacher doesn't give make-up exams unless you can prove you're going  
to die or something. And besides I'm not scared-the police will be  
watching me. Right?" Lee saw a shadow cross his daughters' face after  
she said those words, and then she fell silent. She was putting on a  
brave face, Lee realized. Lord knows, he'd done it himself often enough.

Jenna ate a couple of bites of toast and then drained her orange juice  
in one gulp.

"Are you sure you still want to be on the dance team?" Lee said.

"Lee…" Amanda said.

"No, it's okay, Mom," Jenna said. "After seeing those pictures I  
thought about that too. But the dance team is something that I really  
want. I'm not ready to give it up just yet."

Amanda patted Jenna on the back. "I'm very proud of you, sweetheart,"  
she said.

"Dad is it okay if we leave early?" Jenna said. "Lisa wanted to pick  
up our uniforms at the school bookstore before class."

"Sure, if you want," Lee said, giving his wife a brief hug and a kiss.  
"See you at work-I love you."

"I love you too," Amanda said. Lee grabbed the Corvettes' keys from  
the basket on the counter.

"Love you Mom," Jenna said, as she gave Amanda a hug. "Have a good  
day, and be careful. Promise?"

"I will, sweetheart," Amanda said, her eyes brimming as she hugged her  
daughter tightly. "You be careful too."

** 7:45 AM**

Jenna was subdued during the ride to school. Usually she couldn't stop  
talking, Lee thought, but today she just sat there, playing with the  
stereo and trying to catch the songs that came in between the  
commercials and talking. He missed his daughter's endless chatter-it  
reminded him so much of Amanda. Lee cleared his throat.

"Jenna," he said. "If you need to talk to someone about your feelings  
–you know, about what's going on, you know you can."

"You mean someone like Dr. Pfaff?" Jenna said.

"Maybe," Lee said. "But you can always talk to us too."

"I know that." Jenna said, looking over at her father. "Dad, why does  
your company have Dr. Pfaff? I mean, it's a movie company, and he's a  
psychiatrist. What's he there for?"

"Why do you ask?" Lee said, wondering where this question had come  
from so suddenly.

"I'm curious," Jenna said. "It doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

"Well," Lee racked his brain for a plausible answer. "Ah, well,  
film-making can be very stressful, and sometimes we need to talk to  
someone-so that's what he's doing there."

"So he talks to people about making movies?" Jenna said.

"Sort of," Lee said, feeling very much as though he was digging a very  
deep hole for himself. "Sometimes film-makers have personality  
conflicts, differences of opinions-those kind of things."

"And Dr. Pfaff helps with that?" Jenna said, a skeptical expression on  
her face.

"Yes he does," Lee said. There was a long silence.

"Well if that's what he really does he must have thought my problems  
were pretty weird," Jenna said. "I mean, what happened then-what's  
happening to me now, it's not exactly normal, is it?"

"It doesn't matter what the problem is," Lee said. "The point is that  
just like your mom and I, he's there to help you."

"How can you and mom help?" Jenna said. "You're in danger too. The  
note said anytime and anywhere. I mean, for all we know someone could  
be watching us right now. "

The expression on Jenna's face was pleading. She wanted reassurance,  
Lee knew. He struggled for the right words to comfort his daughter.  
"Jenna, What Bea-I mean, what the police officer said last night was  
true." Lee said. "They'll be watching you and they won't let anything  
happen."

Jenna stared down, looking hard at her hands. Drops of Jupiter' was  
playing on the radio. "Who's going to keep an eye on you and mom?" she  
said.

"Someone will be keeping an eye on us," Lee said. "But Jenna, you  
should know that your Mom and I are pretty capable of looking out for  
ourselves."

"Okay, but what about everyone else?" Jenna said, finally looking at  
her father, "Jamie's in Charlottesville and Philip's working in  
Portsmouth-they're too far away for the Arlington Police to do  
anything."

"They'll be safe," Lee said.

"Grandma and Captain Curt?" Jenna said.

"Jenna, they're very safe-they're all the way in Florida," Lee said.  
"Next you'll be asking about Aunt Edna, Aunt Lillian and Uncle  
Chester. You talked to everyone last night, didn't you?"

"Sure, everyone who was there. I'm just worried," Jenna said.

"Yeah, I know that," Lee said. "And I'm telling you that everything  
will be fine."

"But how can you really know?" Jenna said. "Can someone be watching us  
every minute? Every second?"

"There are no certainties, Jenna, you know that." Lee said. "But I can  
tell you that people will do their best to keep you and everyone else  
safe. That's all I can say."

His car pulled up in front of Kenmore Middle School-he could see  
Jenna's friend Lisa standing by the front entrance, grinning and waving.

"I'm going to pick you up after dance practice," Lee said. "Around 5  
PM, right?"

"Right," Jenna said. "Well, I better go-love you, Dad. Take care,  
okay?" She gave him a hug and turned to get out the car.

"You too," Lee said. He watched as his daughter walked towards Lisa,  
Amanda's words from last night echoing in his head: She's starting to  
ask questions and notice things- it's going to be hard to keep her in  
the dark for too much longer'

"Just a little while longer," Lee said to himself. He waited until he  
was sure that both Lisa and Jenna were safely inside the school before  
he slowly pulled out of the parking lot.

** 7:55 AM**

She looked very pale, he saw, as he watched her walk into the school  
with her friend. There were faint circles under her eyes, too-a sign  
that she hadn't slept well the night before. At the thought of what  
he had planned for her and her family today, his own lips curled  
faintly upwards.

"Just you wait, Jenna," he said under his breath. "Just you wait."

** 8:40 AM**

It had begun raining shortly after Amanda left the house, fat drops of  
water splattering across her windshield. She turned the wipers on,  
absently humming along to the song that was playing on the radio, but  
her mind was on her daughter.

Amanda knew they were going to have to explain to Jenna what they  
actually did for a living very soon-not because some stalker was  
forcing their hand, but because the time was right. Even Dr. Pfaff had  
agreed with her, saying that the truth might lessen Jenna's trauma.  
The only trick lay in convincing her husband. Amanda suspected that  
part of Lee's problem was because he was still coming to terms with  
the fact that Jenna was growing up.

Amanda put on her turn signal as she braked at the red light. The next  
thing she remembered were a pair of bright headlights shining through  
her rearview window-so bright that she couldn't see for a moment. Then  
there was a horrible noise of crunching and grinding metal. Amanda's  
head hit something hard-the steering wheel- and after that there was  
nothing at all. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Part Four**

**November 6, 2001**

**9:25 AM**

"Amanda not in yet?" Francine asked, as she walked through the door of  
the Q Bureau.

"Not yet, no," Lee said. "I've tried her cell phone, but she doesn't  
answer."

Francine looked at her watch. "It's possible that she's stuck in  
traffic. It doesn't necessarily mean anything bad."

"That's true," Lee said. "Amanda doesn't believe in using her cell  
phone while she's driving." He heard his voice saying the words, but  
he wasn't really sure that he believed them. Since the note and the  
photographs, Lee's anxiety level had reached an all-time high.

"Well look, if she doesn't arrive within the next ten minutes we'll  
start to worry," Francine said. "In the meantime, here's that  
background profile on Gary Johnston you wanted. It's very thorough."

"That was quick," Lee said, flipping through the thick sheaf of papers.

"Well we actually started compiling it back in January," Francine  
said. "But the computer turned up more recent information so we  
included that as well. One thing we know for sure-it's not him. All  
ingoing and outgoing mail from the prison is strictly monitored."

"Still I'm willing to bet he's involved somehow," Lee said.

"So would I," Francine agreed. "That's why I'm sending someone over to  
question him. And before you ask, that someone is not you, Scarecrow.  
Billy and I both agreed that you're way too close on this. "

"What about the gifts?" Lee said. "Any prints or DNA?"

Francine shook her head. "Nothing," she said. "We even ran a test on  
the candy corn and it's clean-no substances or anything."

Lee sighed. "So what you're telling me is that we have nothing?" he said.

"Not exactly," Francine said. "The letter was another matter-the  
handwriting and the wording are very similar to a letter to the editor  
that was written to the Washington Times two weeks after the  
sentencing hearing-one that we intercepted before publication." She  
handed Lee a sheet of paper that was encased in plastic. "See for  
yourself."

Lee read out loud. "Those who have conspired to bring down Gary  
Johnston will pay the ultimate price, the girl and her family will  
suffer for their lies" his face darkened. "It's just signed Rache'"

"The German word for revenge," Francine said, her blue eyes clouding  
over. "At the time we thought it was just some crackpot-maybe if we'd  
looked into it more deeply this wouldn't be happening now."

"It's okay, Francine," Lee said. "You couldn't have known. I would've  
thought the same thing."

"How was Jenna this morning?" Francine said.

"Not too great," Lee said, as he opened the Johnston file. "She had a  
night terror last night. I thought we'd come so far since the  
kidnapping, but now it feels like we're back at square one."

"Lee, she's a strong girl," Francine said. "And she has all of us to  
support her."

"I guess," Lee said, rifling through the papers furiously. "It's just  
that everything was back to normal and now-hey," he said, looking up  
at Francine "I didn't know that Johnston had a younger brother."

"Not just a brother, he had a little sister too," Francine said. "Had  
being the operative word. Dennis, Katie and Gary Johnston were sent to  
separate foster homes over thirty years ago."

"Do they keep in touch?" Lee said.

"Hard to say," Francine said. "We haven't managed to locate them as of  
yet. Katie probably married and changed her name. Dennis is the one  
who seems to have dropped off the map. He could be anywhere."

"Living under a completely new identity," Lee said. "Has anyone tried  
to find out?"

"Like I said, we're working on it," Francine said.

Just then Lee's cell phone rang. "Amanda?" Lee said as he flipped open  
his phone. "Sorry, it's just that I was expecting a call from my  
wife-she has? Is she hurt?" Lee's voice grew louder and his expression  
became one of frantic worry. "I'll be there," he said, flipping the  
phone closed. Lee stood, putting on his jacket.

"I have to get to the hospital," he said to Francine. "It's  
Amanda-she's been in a car accident."

**12:00 PM**

Lee sat in the hospital waiting room, shifting in his chair, which was  
upholstered in slippery orange plastic. Did they always have to make  
these things so damned uncomfortable? There was a television set  
mounted on the far wall. Lee tried to force himself to concentrate on  
some inane talk show about paternity tests, but it did very little to  
alleviate his anxiety. He wondered if he should go to the nurses'  
station for the sixth time but decided against it. With his luck those  
nurses would probably call security and have him thrown out.

Your wife has been in a car accident, Mr. Stetson.' That was what  
the voice on his cell phone had said and so far that was all that Lee  
knew. No one would tell him any details about the accident, how badly  
Amanda was hurt-nothing at all. With a hiss of frustration Lee hit a  
nearby wall with his fist. An older man reading a magazine glanced up  
sharply, but as he met Lee's gaze his attention returned abruptly to  
his magazine.

"Did that help?" a female voice inquired.

"What's it to-" Lee's voice faded away as he looked up at a woman  
wearing a white coat bearing a badge with the name of Dr. Morrison.

"I'm sorry Doctor," Lee said. "I guess I'm just a little on edge."

Dr. Morrison smiled. "You must be Lee Stetson," she said. Lee nodded.  
"Your wife described you very well."

"Amanda?" Lee said, his hopes rising. She must be okay if she was able  
to talk to the doctor. "How is she?"

"She sustained a slight concussion when her head struck the steering  
wheel and had a momentary loss of consciousness," Dr. Morrison said.  
"It's not serious, but we would like to keep her here overnight for  
observation."

"Can I see her?" Lee asked.

"Of course," Dr. Morrison said, and Lee followed her to one of the  
curtained cubicle. As he came closer could hear Amanda's voice.

"No I don't want to stay here overnight," she was saying. "I'll be  
just fine at home. If you'll just give me the release forms and tell  
me where my clothes are I'll be on my way."

"I'm sorry ma'am," a halting male voice explained, "but I'm not  
authorized to make that decision."

"Well then let me talk to someone who his," Amanda said. Dr. Morrison  
pushed the curtain aside and Amanda and the intern both looked up with  
startled expressions on their faces. Amanda's expression turned to one  
of relief as she saw her husband.

"Lee!" she said happily. Lee crossed the room and enveloped his wife  
in a gentle hug, followed by a kiss which only ended when Dr. Morrison  
cleared her throat and reminded them that they weren't alone.

"How are you feeling?" Lee asked Amanda, his hand running gently  
across her cheekbone. He could see the beginnings of what would be a  
nasty bruise on her forehead.

"Fine," Amanda said. "Well, maybe not fine-my head hurts and I have  
the feeling I'll probably be really sore tomorrow."

"What happened?" Lee said.

"Well the last thing I remember was being at the red light," Amanda  
said. "Then there were these really bright headlights and something  
rammed into me. I guess I must have hit my head on the steering wheel  
because I blacked out for a few seconds and the next thing I know the  
paramedics were there. What I don't understand is why the airbag  
didn't work-that was one of the reasons why we bought the Taurus."

Lee didn't know either, but his mind was forming some nasty  
suspicions. "What about the other car?" He said.

"The witnesses said it left the scene before the paramedics came,"  
Amanda said. "All anyone knows is that it was a red pickup. Lee do you  
think this is connected to-" her voice broke off as they looked up at  
Dr. Morrison.

"It's a possibility," Lee said, keeping his voice low. "I want to have  
the Taurus checked out by Gino, Amanda. He'll be able to tell if it's  
been tampered with and why the airbag didn't work. There are other  
things I need to fill you in on later."

"Later at home, right?" Amanda said. "I really don't want to stay here."

"Amanda, if Dr. Morrison thinks it's best maybe you should stay," Lee  
said. "A head injury can be a serious thing. Remember Jenna?"

"This is nothing like Jenna," Amanda said, lowering her voice to a  
whisper. "I'm not confused and I only lost consciousness for a minute  
or two. If this accident is connected to Jenna's situation I don't  
want her to find out about it." Lee tried to say something, but Amanda  
talked right over him in typical fashion. "Jenna's worried enough as  
it is and I don't want her to see me in a hospital bed."

"I understand," Lee said. "I'll see what I can do."

**6:30 PM**

"Mom, can I get you anything else to eat?" Jenna asked.

"Oh sweetheart I think I'm full," Amanda said, putting her spoon in  
the bowl. She was lying on the family room sofa, an afghan over her  
legs and a cold pack on her head. "This was really good soup. Beef and  
vegetable?"

"Yeah it was. Dad made the soup, mostly," Jenna said, "But I made the  
wraps in the toaster oven."

"Well the wraps were really good too," Amanda said.

"I'm glad," Jenna said. She was smiling, but Amanda could see the  
apprehension in her daughter's eyes.

"Jenna, I'm fine," Amanda said. "Really. It was just an accident at work."

"Are you sure?" Jenna asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," Amanda said. "We were out on the photo shoot and I  
banged my head on a camera. It's just a bump. The company doctor told  
me to take it easy."

Jenna sat down beside Amanda on the couch. "I'm sorry Mom," she said.  
"I just worry, that's all. I don't want anything to happen to you  
because of-because of all this."

Amanda pulled Jenna into a tight hug, thinking back to the time when  
Jenna was just a baby and small enough to snuggle in her arms. "I know  
you do," she said. "We all worry about the people we love." Looking  
over Jenna's shoulder Amanda could see Lee, standing in the kitchen  
doorway.

"Jenna, I cleared most of the dishes away," Lee said. "Do you want to  
load the dishwasher?"

"Sure Dad," Jenna said, standing up and grabbing the bowl, spoon and  
plate from the tray table next to the sofa and going into the kitchen.  
Just like Jenna, Lee sat beside Amanda on the sofa.

"You really sure you're okay?" he said.

Amanda sighed. "I'm only saying this one more time, Lee. Yes, I'm  
okay. Jenna is the one that I'm really worried about. Are we any  
closer to catching the person who's doing this?"

"Not really," From the kitchen they could hear the noise of Jenna  
rinsing off the plates and putting them into the washing machine. Lee  
lowered his voice slightly. "There are two possible leads-a brother  
and sister, but so far there's been no luck in locating them. All that  
we can do now is wait."

"Wait for him to make the next move," Amanda said. The thought of what  
that next move might be made her shiver and Lee pulled her into his  
warm embrace.

**Wednesday,  
November 7, 2001  
2:00 AM**

The sound of the buzzer woke Suzanne out of a deep sleep and into the  
cold harsh reality as she sat up, looking around at her dingy  
apartment. She'd been dreaming that everything was back to normal,  
that Marcie was alive and that Gary was the sweet and wonderful man  
that Suzanne had always known he could've been. Slowly she brushed a  
tear from her eye. The remains of her dinner still lay in front of her  
on the coffee table-Suzanne no longer had the energy to clean  
anything. She didn't seem to have any energy at all, actually.

The buzzer rang again. Before Suzanne could get over there to open it  
there was a loud bang and the door flew inwards, knocking some of the  
hinges loose. A man stepped through, and smiled at her thinly.

"Hello, Suzanne," Dennis said. "Nice to meet you again."

"What are you-" Suzanne began, her voice trembling as she spoke.. That  
was when she saw the knife that he was holding. Soon after that, she  
began screaming.

**2:30 AM**

_The figure in black was holding Jenna tightly, pressing a knife  
against her throat. Jenna's face was pale and tearstained as she  
looked into her father's eyes._

_"Let her go," Lee said. "Please-take me instead."_

_"No chance, Stetson," the voice said, and before Lee had a chance to  
react the blade was drawn across his daughter's throat and she fell…  
"No!" Lee shouted._

His heart was pounding as he sat up in bed. It took a moment to  
reorient himself and realize that it had all been a dream. Amanda was  
still sleeping beside him-thank God he hadn't woken her. From  
downstairs Lee could hear the faint sound of music. He stood up and  
pulled on his robe, sliding his feet into the slippers that Amanda had  
bought him for his last birthday. As he went downstairs the sound  
became louder-it was coming from the family-room television. On the  
couch lay Jenna, sound asleep. One arm held the remote and hung limply  
over the side of the sofa. Lee turned off the television set, pried  
the remote out of Jenna's fingers and lifted his daughter into his  
arms-something he hadn't done since she was six.

Jenna's eyes opened slightly. "Dad?" She whispered. "What-"

"I'm just taking you back to your bed," Lee said. "Did you have a bad  
dream?"

"Trying not to have one," Jenna said, her voice slightly slurry from  
fatigue. "I thought that if I stayed up until I was too tired…"

"Not a good idea, munchkin," Lee said, but his daughter's eyes were  
closed and he wasn't so sure if she'd heard him. Lee tucked Jenna into  
her bed and turned to leave.

"Nightlight?" Jenna said.

"Already on," Lee said.

"G'nite," Jenna said. Lee stood standing in the doorway, watching her  
and making sure that she was really asleep before he left.


	5. Chapter 5

**Part Five**

** November 7, 2001**

** 8:00 AM**

"You all right?" Lisa said. 

"I'm fine," Jenna said, stifling a yawn with her hand. "Why?"

"I don't want to be mean, girl, but you look half-dead," Lisa said.  
"Do you have the flu or something?"

"I'm just tired," Jenna said. "I don't have the flu or something, I  
just stayed up late." Trying not to dream, she added silently. Her dad  
had been right-it had not been a good idea. Jenna yawned again-she was  
so tired that she couldn't even open her own locker.

"Is this a sign of early senility?" Lisa said.

"What?" Jenna said. "Why?"

"Because, Miss Spaz, you're trying to open someone else's locker,"  
Lisa said. Jenna stuck her tongue out at her friend and moved one locker

over, spinning the dial around quickly-the bell was going to ring soon  
and she didn't want to be late.

"Think there'll be more messages from Mr. Secret Admirer?" Lisa said.

"I hope not," Jenna said. But as she opened her locker she saw an  
unfamiliar envelope.  
Lisa was standing behind her, trying to look over Jenna's shoulder as  
she unsealed the flap .

"Could I have some privacy, please?" Jenna said, speaking a little  
more sharply than she'd intended.

"Sure, grouchy," Lisa muttered. "See you in class."

Jenna's hands shook slightly as she pulled something out of the  
envelope. Another card-a homemade one this time. The front of the card  
bore the words, "You'll never get away from me", in red letters.  
Jenna opened the card, looking at the photograph which was glued  
there, and she swallowed very hard. It was slightly blurry, but the  
face of the blood-soaked figure was quite clear. Suzanne Johnston. The  
caption for the photo was in the same red letters and read "She never  
did". Jenna really felt like she was going to be sick this time. Lisa  
touched her shoulder and Jenna quickly closed the card, forcing a  
smile for her friend.

"Sorry I was grouchy," she said.

"Are you kidding?" Lisa said. "Grouchy friends are normal. It's when  
they start being nice that you have to worry." Jenna laughed.

The five minute bell rang, reminding Jenna that what she would be was  
late for class if she didn't hustle. She put the envelope into her  
backpack and bolted down the corridor towards homeroom.

** 1:55 PM **

"There's not much here," Amanda said, looking around at the small and  
shabby apartment. The carpet was brown and faded and splattered with  
dark spots. Amanda shuddered as she realized that the dark spots were  
dried blood. She felt Lee's hand on her shoulder, which still felt  
sore from the accident along with everything else. Lee had wanted her  
to stay home and rest, but Amanda had insisted on coming along. "But I  
guess after losing her daughter there wasn't much else for her. You  
notice that she doesn't have any family pictures or mementos?" 

"It was probably too painful to hang on to those," Lee said. "Okay,  
forensics and the police have already been here, Amanda. We're just  
looking for anything they may have overlooked."

"You think this is related to what's happening to Jenna?" Amanda said,  
her eyes scanning the ground. But it was something on a nearby  
bookcase which caught her eye-a small photograph in a room which was  
practically devoid of memorabilia. Amanda picked it up.

"Of course," Lee said. "It would be too much of a coincidence  
otherwise."

"Lee, look at this," Amanda handed him the small black and white  
photo. Lee stared at the three faces on the photo.

"That's definitely Gary," he said, pointing at the face in the middle.  
"The other ones must be Dennis and Katie." Lee turned it over, staring  
at the word written on red ink in the back. The German word for  
revenge. Rache.

** 3:55 PM**

"This wasn't your best work, Jenna," Mr. Frere said, as he handed back  
the one page essay she'd written Monday night. "I'm very  
disappointed." On the top of the paper in red ink he had put a '59'.

He'd even circled it. For one moment Jenna felt like asking her  
teacher how well he'd do on an essay if some crazy person was stalking  
him and his family, but she wisely decided to hold her tongue.

"I know, Mr. Frere," Jenna said as she took the paper. She was  
thankful that he'd waited until the other students left to confront  
her with it. "I guess I've been kind of distracted lately. I'm sorry."

"Something bothering you?" Mr. Frere said.

"A little bit, yeah," Jenna admitted. Mr. Frere leaned across the  
desk, his blue eyes peering sympathetically into hers from behind a  
pair of reading glasses.

"If there's something you want to talk about, Jenna," he said. "I'm  
always here for my students. Maybe we could speak after school?"

"Thanks," Jenna said, "but I have dance team practice."

"I can wait after if you like," Mr. Frere said.

Jenna almost said yes, but there was something-a feeling she couldn't  
quite place and every instinct was screaming at her to say no. "That's  
okay," she said. "But I have a ride home after then and I hate to keep  
them waiting-maybe I'll see you tomorrow."

Something about the expression on Mr. Frere's face made Jenna feel  
very nervous all of the sudden. Then he was all smiles again, leaving  
her thinking that maybe she was imagining things. .

"Well my door is open anytime you want to talk," he said. "About  
anything."

** 4:55 PM**

"One and two and three and four and five and six and seven and eight!"  
For each count Mrs. Roberts clapped her hands. Jenna kicked and then  
fell on the double-pirouette- grimacing as the side of her knee made  
contact with the gym floor. Jenna heard someone snickering and felt  
the heat rising in her cheeks. Usually dance was her one release when  
she was stressed out, but today her limbs felt as heavy and clumsy as  
an elephant.

"Keep up, Jenna!" Mrs. Roberts yelled, her voice breaking into  
Jenna's reverie and she suddenly realized that she was at least three  
steps behind everybody else.

"Okay team, that's it!" Mrs. Roberts said. "I will see all of you on  
Thursday-be here promptly after class so we have time for the  
warm-ups. Jenna Stetson, if you can stay after. I'd like to talk to  
you."

"Ooooh!" Terri Morgan said, tossing her platinum hair as she grinned  
maliciously at Jenna. "Sounds like someone's in trouble- guess being  
kidnapped won't get you out of this one."  
Jenna said nothing, but she glared at Terri until Terri finally looked  
away.

"What an idiot," Lisa muttered, giving Terri a glare of her own before  
turning to Jenna. "I've got to go- my mom wants us to do a shopping and  
dinner thing. Will you be all right?"

"I'll be fine," Jenna said. "Have a good time-I'll see you tomorrow,  
okay?" Lisa and the other girls headed to the locker room. Taking a  
deep breath, Jenna walked over to Mrs. Roberts, who was putting her  
CD's in their cases.

"You said you wanted to see me?" Jenna said.

"I did, yes," Mrs. Roberts said. "You seemed a little distracted  
today, Jenna-actually you seemed like you weren't even with us. Is  
everything all right?"

"Everything' s fine, Mrs. Roberts," Jenna said. "It's just been a long  
day-I didn't sleep too well last night."

The teacher stared at her for a long moment. Finally she spoke. "I'll  
let it go today, Jenna. Because I know that you have the ability. But  
this better not become a habit."

"No ma'am," Jenna said quietly.

"Good dancing requires concentration, " Mrs. Roberts said. "And good  
dancers are what I need on my team."

"Yes ma'am," Jenna said.

"Good girl," Mrs. Roberts looked at her watch. "What do you say to ten  
extra minutes? Just to see if you've got the routine down-pat. Okay?"

"Well," Jenna hesitated. On one hand she knew her dad would be waiting  
outside. On the other hand she really wanted to impress Mrs. Roberts.  
"Okay." She said.

"Fantastic," Mrs. Roberts said, smiling, and Jenna found herself  
smiling back-the first real smile that she'd had all day.

**SMK SMK SMK SMK**

**5:10 PM**

The locker room was empty by the time a thoroughly exhausted Jenna  
entered it. She put her bag beside her on the bench, peeling off her  
damp sweats and changing back into her school clothes. She left on the  
pink sweatband her mom had given her for luck, even though it hadn't  
brought her much luck today. Jenna was sitting on the bench, pulling  
on her sneakers when all of the sudden the lights went out.

"Great," she whispered to herself. Someone had forgotten she was in  
here. It would be just her luck on a day like today to be locked in by  
an overeager custodian. Jenna finished with her shoes and stood. She  
felt for her sweats, stuffing them into her backpack and throwing the  
bag over one shoulder. Jenna's eyes were adjusting to the darkness,  
and she could make out the outlines of the door up ahead. A hiss of  
irritation escaped her lips when she realized the door was locked.

"Hey! Somebody! I'm stuck in here!" Jenna yelled, pounding the metal  
door with her fists. "Hello? Mrs. Roberts? Somebody? Anybody?" But no  
one came. She fished her cell phone out of her pocket-but it wasn't  
picking up a signal. Great, Jenna thought to herself-Dad was probably  
waiting outside now, probably worried sick and she didn't blame him.  
Would she have to stay here all night?

A sound from behind startled Jenna-it was a sharp squeak- kind of like  
the sound that some tennis shoes made when they walked or ran across  
the gym floor.

"Is someone there?" Jenna asked as she turned around, sliding the  
backpack from her shoulder and holding it by the straps in front of  
her. If nothing else it could certainly be used as a weapon. Slowly  
she walked towards the area where the noise had come from. "If you're  
there," Jenna said, "please answer."

That's when the whisper came.

"Jenna," a voice hissed softly. The sound made Jenna shiver.

"Who is that?" She called out, realizing that her voice was  
trembling. In the shadows Jenna thought she saw something move.

"Jenna," the voice said again. Jenna couldn't tell whether the speaker  
was male or female.

"Look, if this is a prank or someone trying to scare me it isn't  
funny." Jenna said.

That was when someone grabbed her arm from behind. With a startled  
cry Jenna tried to pull away, but the person holding her was too  
strong. Remembering the self-defense moves that Dad had taught her,  
she let her weight lean forward and then kicked out behind her as hard  
as she could. Jenna's foot connected with something solid and she  
heard of grunt of pain.

"For God's -Jenna, it's just me," Jenna recognized her Dad's voice-she  
turned around to see him holding a penlight flashlight and something  
else in his other hand-something that looked like a- Jenna tried to  
make it out, but by then it was gone.

"What are you doing here?" Jenna asked. "Did you just have a gun?"

"What do you think I'm doing here?" Dad said. "I was waiting for you  
in the car and I got worried." He had avoided her question about the  
gun completely, but Jenna decided to let it go.

"You scared me, Dad. How did you get in?" Jenna said. "The door was  
locked-I tried it."

"It was locked from the outside," Dad said, after a pause. "I came in  
through the gym and I heard you shouting and asking if someone was  
there."

"Was that you calling my name just now?" Jenna said.

Dad was still holding her arm, and his grip tightened momentarily.  
"Someone was calling your name?"

"Yes," Jenna said. "When you grabbed me I thought it had been you."

"Well it wasn't me," Dad said. "Could you tell what direction it was  
coming from?"

"Well I was standing right here," Jenna pointed towards the dim  
outline of the bench nearest the door. "And I think it came from  
somewhere in the back-there was a funny sound before the voice-sort  
of like shoes squeaking."

"Shoes squeaking?" Dad said. Jenna nodded. "I'm going to check it out.  
You stay right here and if anything happens you yell for me. Okay?"

"Be careful," Jenna said. The wait seemed to take forever-she could  
hear her father's footsteps moving around in the back-the little  
penlight playing off the locker doors. Jenna clenched her hands  
tightly until she could feel the nails digging into her palms. Finally  
he came back.

"If there was somebody they aren't there now," Dad said.

"I didn't imagine it," Jenna said. "I really did hear a voice."

Lee ruffled her hair with one hand. "I know you did, sweetheart." His  
voice sounded calm, nonchalant even, but Jenna had the strangest  
feeling that something had upset him. "Let's go home, huh? Your mom  
will be starting to worry."

**SMK SMK SMK SMK**

** 5:30 PM**

Lee fought to stay outwardly composed during the drive home, but  
inside his mind was racing. What he had seen in the gym and the locker  
room-those images would stay with him forever. Lee was just glad he'd  
gotten Jenna out before she'd seen-or before anything else had happened.

My God, he thought, fear coursing through his veins. If I hadn't been  
there on time...

"Suzanne Johnston-she was murdered, wasn't she?" Jenna said.

They were stopped at a red light now. "How do you know that?" Lee said.

"There was something else in my locker today," Jenna said, digging the  
envelope out of her backpack. "It was another card. There was a  
picture of Suzanne-she was-I mean, you could sort of tell that she was  
dead." Her voice trembled slightly.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Jenna," Lee said. "You shouldn't have  
had to hear about it that way."

"How did you hear about it?" Jenna said.

"I heard about it on the news," Lee said. The guy behind him honked  
and he realized that the light had turned green. Putting on his  
signal, Lee turned left onto Maplewood.

"So the person who's doing this to me killed her," Jenna said. "She-I  
mean Suzanne-she wasn't a bad lady. She just didn't know what was  
going on."

"I know," Lee said.

"You'll never get away from me," Jenna said. "That's what the card  
said. She testified against him and died. I guess that means I'm next."

Lee could hear the tears in her voice and his anger at his daughter's  
tormenter grew. "Jenna," he said, "We-I mean the police-are going to  
do everything possible to make sure you aren't next. So don't talk  
like that."

"I won't," Jenna said softly.

"Good," Lee said. "Now I'm going to call the-police when we get home  
and see what else we can do. I'm sorry, but you aren't going back to  
school tomorrow and probably not for the next few days."

"Mrs. Roberts might be upset when I'm not there for Dance Team  
practice." Jenna said.

"Well she'll just have to understand," Lee said. "And I don't want you  
calling or texting anyone and telling them about this, Jenna. Not your  
friends, your teachers-no one can know."

"I understand," Jenna said.

"The police might want to take us to a safe place," Lee said. "So when  
we get home I want you to pack a bag. Pack for at least three days,  
essentials only."

"I can do that," Jenna repeated. Lee squeezed his daughter's hand.

"It really will be all right, munchkin" he said firmly. At this point  
Lee wasn't really sure how it would be, but he knew that Jenna needed  
to hear those words.

**SMK SMK SMK SMK **

"So you're saying that you didn't get her?" Katie said. "I  
practically gave that kid to you on a silver platter."

"I'm telling you, it was a bust," Dennis said. "Before I could even  
touch her Daddy came along and get this- he even had a gun."

"Well from what Gary said, the guy's some sort of fed. What did you  
expect?" Katie said, "Did he hurt you, Denny?"

"Relax, sis, I'm fine." Dennis' voice sounded slightly amused. "But  
your plan didn't work. Now we try one of my plans, Katie, and you're  
just the one to carry it out."

"What did you have in mind?" Katie said.

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6

** Part Six**

** 5:35 PM**

"I decided to pick up something from Marvelous Marvin's," Amanda said  
as she opened the door for Lee and Jenna, giving her daughter a brief  
hug and favoring her husband with a slightly longer kiss. "I figured  
that we were all too tired to cook."

"Thanks Mom," Jenna said. Her eyes looked puffy, like she'd been  
crying. "I'll eat in a minute, okay?" Without another word she went up  
to her bedroom.

Amanda looked at Lee. "Did something else happen today?"

"You could say, that, yeah." Lee said, handing Amanda the card that  
Jenna had given him before entering the house. "For starters, she  
knows that Suzanne was murdered. She received a card and a photograph  
telling her so."

"Oh my gosh," Amanda said, putting her hand over her mouth as she  
looked at the card and the photograph. "Lee, this card is-I mean, I  
saw the crime scene photos, but this-"

"I know," Lee said, placing a hand on Amanda's shoulder. "And what  
happened in the locker room after that dance team practice didn't  
help. Someone turned off the lights and trapped her in there."

"They trapped her in the locker room?" Amanda said, seeing the  
troubled look in her husbands' eyes and knowing that there had to be  
more to the story.

"Yeah, I heard her shouting so I picked the lock," Lee said. "Jenna  
told me that she'd heard someone whispering her name, so I told her to  
stay put while I went to check it out. As far as Jenna knows, I found  
nothing."

"What did you really find?" Amanda asked, not sure that she wanted to  
hear the answer.

"Some ropes, a gag and a very sharp butcher knife," Lee said. "I also  
found the dead body of Agent Whitaker-he was the one who was assigned  
to protect her inside the school."

Looking at her husband, Amanda could see the same horror that she felt  
reflected in his eyes. "You're sure that Jenna knows nothing?" Amanda  
said.

Lee shook his head. "Hopefully she never has to know-Lord only knows  
what some creep was planning to do to Jenna if I hadn't come in time."

Amanda took Lee's hands into her own, realizing that he was shaking as  
much as she was. "But you did get there in time," she said. "That's  
what matters, Lee. You saved her."

Lee nodded. "Now I just need to keep her that way," he said. "I'm  
going to make a few phone calls-Amanda, can you-?"

"I'll pack a couple of bags for us," Amanda said. "What about Jenna?"

"Already packing, I hope," Lee said. "I told her to plan for at least  
three days."

"Is that how long you think it will take?" Amanda said.

"I don't know," Lee admitted, rubbing his face with one hand. "The  
leads haven't gone anywhere so far-there's nothing."

"Don't worry, they'll find something," Amanda said. Lee's arms  
wrapped tightly around his wife, pulling her body close to his.

Hopefully before something finds us, Lee thought to himself.

** 5:45 PM**

"We've arranged for you to stay in our safe house in Bethesda," Billy  
said. "Someone will be there shortly to escort you."

"Thanks, Billy," Lee said. Amanda was putting their bags near the  
door. "Have there been any new leads?"

"Francine thinks she has a line on this Dennis Johnston character,"  
Billy said, "But she's still gathering the details. Gino checked out  
Amanda's car and you were right, Lee. The airbag had been tampered  
with so it wouldn't deploy."

"Thanks, Billy," Lee said. "Let me know when you have any more  
information, okay?"

"Will do, Scarecrow," Billy said. "Just take good care of my  
Goddaughter-and yourselves."

** 6:00 PM**

"Finished?" Dad said.

"I think so," Jenna said, zipping up her bag. "It's almost completely  
full, anyway. Where are we going?"

"Bethesda," Dad said. "There's someone waiting outside to take us, so  
we better hurry. Hey," he bent down to pick up something from her  
bedroom floor and handed it to her-it was her old Scarecrow doll. "You  
forgot this."

"I thought you said essentials," Jenna said.

Dad got a strange look on his face. "You don't think he's essential?"

Part of Jenna wanted to say that she was a little old for dolls now,  
but something about that particular doll had always been a comfort to  
her. She took it from him, tucking it under it under her arm and Dad  
smiled. "Let's go," Jenna said, trying to sound a lot braver than she  
felt. Dad turned off the light in her room and together they went  
downstairs. Mom was waiting for them by the door. There were two  
duffel bags in her hand and Dad took the larger one, putting it on his  
shoulder.

"Your dinner's in the car," Mom said to Jenna as together they all  
went out of the house and down the front steps. "I don't know if you  
feel much like eating, sweetheart, but just in case."

Jenna was about to thank her Mom when she heard a strange booming noise.

"Get down!" Dad was yelling, and by the glow of the streetlights  
Jenna could see that there was suddenly a gun in his hand and that he  
was firing back, like somebody in one of those cop shows that Jenna  
watched on TV. What was he doing?

More booming noises, reminding Jenna of the fireworks last Fourth of  
July-and Mom was screaming at her to get down. Jenna felt something  
hit her leg, and gasped as it stung. She felt her mother's arms around  
her, pulling her down to the ground. Something warm and wet was  
running down her leg but she didn't feel any pain beyond a dull  
burning sensation.

"Sweetheart?" her Mom's voice sounded like it was coming from a long

ways away. Jenna tried to move her leg but her muscles didn't seem to  
want to obey her command and the pain was starting to grow so much  
worse. Someone was crying and whimpering like an injured animal-it  
took Jenna a moment to realize that someone was her.

"Lee, she's been hit!" her Mom shouted. Jenna felt someone pressing  
something onto her lower leg. The last thing she recalled was hearing  
mom's voice telling her to hang on and that help was on the way before  
the pain and darkness overtook her completely


	7. Chapter 7

** -For Disclaimers and Notes, see Part One-**

Any medical things that I got wrong, I apologize for them in advance.  
I tried to do as much research as I could, but I'm no doctor and nothing's perfect. As  
for the use of Jimmy Buffet, it was playing in the recovery room when  
my mom had surgery, so that's what I used :) Hope you enjoy.

** Rating-PG-13 for violence**

Part Seven

Wednesday, November 7, 2001

8:30 PM

One of the things Dennis liked about hospitals was the fact that  
almost no one noticed you. You could wander around the corridors for  
hours and as long as you weren't there after hours and didn't call  
attention to yourself people just took you for granted. He'd told the  
old bat in the downstairs lounge that he was going to visit a friend  
in room 430-she hadn't even made any calls to double-check. All she'd  
done was write the information on a sticker and slap it onto Dennis'  
chest. What could be easier? He thought. All that remained for him  
now was to find out where Jenna was.

Dennis honed in on the nurse at the front desk who was busy typing  
what looked like a report into her computer. Her eyes were practically  
glazed over. As if on cue the nurse yawned, covering her mouth with  
her hand. A discarded bouquet of lilies lay on top of the garbage can.  
On impulse Dennis picked them up.

"Excuse me," he said to the nurse, running a hand through his hair and  
trying to look suitably worried. "But I heard they brought my niece in  
here-Jenna Stetson? I just want to know her condition. I even brought  
her some flowers, see?"

"I'll check," the nurse said with a reluctant sigh. She went over to  
another terminal. "You said Jenna Stetson?"

"That's right," Dennis said smoothly. "She was shot in the leg, I  
believe. Only twelve years old."

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry," the nurse said, as her fingers danced over  
the keyboard. "Let me just check for you, sir, it won't take a  
moment-now that's funny."

"What?" Dennis said.

"There's no one by that name here," the nurse said. "In fact, the  
records show that there weren't any gunshot victims in the ER tonight."

"Well, maybe she went to another hospital," Dennis said, his mind  
racing because he was almost certain that they were here. He wondered  
what kind of strings the Stetsons would've had to pull to keep Jenna's  
patient information off the computer.

"Maybe," the nurse frowned. "The thing is, I remember a gunshot victim  
being brought in tonight- a young girl, blond hair-there must be some  
sort of computer error."

"That certainly sounds like my niece Jenna," Dennis said. "Where would  
they have taken her-into surgery?"

"Yeah, to surgery and then straight on to recovery-down that way, I  
believe." The nurse pointed distractedly as she frowned at the  
computer screen. "But no one's allowed back there without authorization."

"Thank you so much," Gary murmured. "I'll be seeing you." As he  
headed towards Surgery and Recovery, his hand patted his pocket,  
making sure that everything he needed was still in there. The nurse  
was calling after him, but he ignored her.

** 9:00 PM**

Lee and Amanda were sitting at a table in the Pediatric Surgery  
Waiting Room of Galilee General. Lee had his head in his hands and  
Amanda was vainly trying to concentrate on the Washington Times  
crossword puzzle.

"What time is it?" Lee asked.

"9:00," Amanda said. "About five minutes later since the last time you  
asked. Lee, what's a four-letter word for a culture medium?"

"A what?" Lee looked at his wife in shock until he realized what she  
was doing. "I really don't know," he told her.

"Well how about an artificial oyster bed?'" Amanda said.

"Sorry, no idea," Lee said.

In a fit of uncharacteristic anger Amanda threw the puzzle and her  
pencil across the room, the pencil bouncing off the wall. Lee was  
astonished-usually he was the one to have these kind of outbursts-not  
Amanda. "It doesn't matter," she said. "Why do I even care about  
culture mediums, oyster beds, or any of these things when my baby's in  
surgery?" Tears were glistening in her dark eyes.

Lee took her into his arms-his own eyes weren't so dry either. "It'll  
be all right," he said, rubbing the small of Amanda's back in soothing  
circles with the palm of his hand. "She was only shot in the leg and  
the bleeding didn't look all that heavy." He was trying to convince  
himself with his words as well as Amanda-Lee knew from personal  
experience that even the most minor gunshot wounds could turn out to  
be very serious indeed. Seeing Jenna lying on a gurney once again,  
with tubes in her arms and her small face covered by an oxygen mask  
had just about wrenched his heart from his chest. "She's strong,  
Amanda." Lee said. "She'll make it."

"It's been one heck of a year for our daughter, hasn't it?" Amanda  
said. "Kidnapping, being terrorized and now she's been shot."

"I know," Lee said. "If Jenna survives to adolescence someone should  
give her a medal."

There was a squeaking sound as the door swung open. Both Lee and  
Amanda looked up to see Billy.

"How is Jenna?" Billy asked, sitting down in one of the chairs  
opposite the couple.

"We don't know," Lee said. "The N.E.S.T team swept her right into  
surgery the moment we arrived and we haven't heard a thing since."

"How about you?" Billy said, looking at Lee's bandaged arm.

"What? It was just a graze," Lee said, impatience creeping into his  
voice. "Do you have any news?"

"Well the good news is that we caught the shooter," Billy said.  
"Formerly Katie Johnston, she now goes by Katie Roberts."

"Roberts?" Amanda's eyes widened. "She's the one who runs the Dance  
Team at Kenmore."

Billy nodded grimly. "It ties in with Whitaker's murder perfectly, and  
she was probably the one who turned off the lights and locked the  
locker room."

"What's the bad news?" Amanda asked.

"The bad news is that we don't think she was working alone." Billy said.

"You mean Dennis," Lee said. "You said earlier that Francine was close  
to finding information on him?"

Billy took a deep breath, taking a piece of paper out of his jacket  
pocket. "After 1979, Dennis Johnston became Dennis Johnson, followed  
by Kenneth Mckendrick , Stephen Patrick and most recently Nolan  
Robertson. New ID's and Social Security numbers for each one."

"It's really that easy to do?" Amanda said, her eyes wide.

"Anything's easy if you're willing to pay the money for it,  
unfortunately," Billy said.

"Any idea what name he could be using now?" Amanda said.

"Francine's working on that," Billy said. "This man drifts from state  
to state, Amanda. He's had some- run-ins with the law, but he's never  
been indicted or convicted of anything stronger than a speeding ticket."

"What kind of run-ins with the law did he have, exactly?" Lee said,  
knowing that Billy wasn't giving him the entire story. "Billy please,  
I need to know."

"You're not going to like it, Lee," Billy said. "Some children went  
missing when he was around. Four children, to be exact. All female,  
all between the ages of 9 and 13, in four different states. In each  
case Dennis was always questioned, but since there was never any  
evidence against him and the children were never found they had to let  
him go."

"Oh my god it just gets worse," Lee said. He ran one hand over his  
face, thinking again about what he had found in the locker room, what

might have happened. He felt Amanda's hand slip into his

and he knew she was thinking about the same thing. "We

have to find him," Lee said.

"Well Francine is interrogating Katie Roberts now," Billy said. "But  
so far she hasn't been very forthcoming. We're also looking into the  
backgrounds of all the teachers who started working at Kenmore this  
year-that could take some time."

"Do you have a list of all those teachers?" Amanda said. "If I could  
look at it something might jump out at me."

"Here," Billy said, fishing a folded piece of paper from his jacket  
pocket and handing it to Amanda.

"Has anyone spoken to Gary?" Lee said. "He's tied up in this mess  
somehow, Billy. Does he have anything to say?"

"Not much," Billy said. "He's in the infirmary after inmates beat him  
up again- this is his third hospitalization since he started his  
sentence."

"Well considering what he did to Jenna, you'll forgive me if I don't  
feel much sympathy," Lee said. "Did he tell you anything?"

"Nothing," Billy sighed. "Doctors allowed our agents ten minutes with  
Gary Johnston and all he did was smile and say that things were being  
taken care of."

"Give me ten minutes with the guy and that wouldn't be a problem," Lee  
muttered. Amanda squeezed his hand gently.

"What about Jenna?" Amanda said. "Once she gets out of surgery we'll  
need to keep her safe."

"I know, Amanda. Once she's out of surgery we'll station a guard  
outside the recovery room. We're also providing you with a private  
hospital suite," Billy said. "No one will be able to get in or out of  
that room without you or Lee's permission."

"And Philip and Jamie?" Lee asked.

"We're still watching them, but at this moment we don't believe  
they're in any real danger," Billy said. "Chances are that if Dennis  
Johnston is going to try anything, he'll try it here. Anything on that  
list jump out at you?" he said to Amanda.

Amanda pursed her lips. "Not really," she said, running her finger  
down the list. "But this woman, the History teacher Mrs. Bryson, isn't  
there anymore. She had to have emergency surgery and the school hired  
a semester replacement and he's a Mr.- I can't remember what his name  
is, but he's Jenna's favorite teacher now-she talks about him all the  
time."

"Well, when she's feeling better ask her and call me," Billy said.  
"I've got to go now-oh I almost forgot." He pulled out a small  
stuffed bear and a book out of his pocket, handing the things to Lee.  
"The stuffed animal is from Jeannie and I and the book is from  
Francine-she said that Jenna really wanted that book."

Lee looked at the cover of Stormbreaker, then turned it over to read  
the back cover. The words spy' and MI-6' leaped out a him. "Spy  
fiction?" he said in disbelief. "When did she start getting into that?"

Billy's only response to that was laughter.

** 9:45 PM**

"Look," Francine said, leaning across the table and glaring at the  
woman who was sitting across from her. "Sooner or later you're going  
to have to talk-you can save us both a lot of trouble if you just tell  
me where he is."

Katie Robert's slender wrists were handcuffed to the chair where she  
was sitting-her face was without expression as she stared at Francine.

"Where who is?" Katie said.

"Don't play dumb," Francine said. "I want to know where your brother  
Dennis is and what name he's using."

"Well, right at the moment I have know idea where Dennis is," Katie  
said acidly. "I've been here in this chair for at least three hours,  
haven't I? As to what name he's using, let's just say that's  
privileged information."

Francine resisted the urge to strangle the woman right here and wipe  
that smug smile from Katie Robert's face. "You realize that we can  
make you talk," she said. "There are drugs-this is the easy way, Mrs.  
Roberts. Would you really prefer the hard way?"

Mrs. Roberts' blue eyes looked into Francine's. Without warning she  
began to laugh, the sound sending chills down Francine's spine. "You  
know you won't do that-you don't have the time. Soon Dennis will have  
Jenna, and our brother Gary will be avenged. Incidentally, how is poor  
little Jenna doing?"

Francine's expression hardened. "Like you said, that's privileged  
information," she said, putting the contempt she felt for Mrs. Roberts  
into each syllable. Francine leaned further forward. "Lee Stetson is  
very well-liked around this agency, and so is his family. So I pretty  
much have a green light to do whatever I want with you to find out the  
information I need. Do we understand one another?"

For the first time since the interrogation began, Francine noticed a  
look of apprehension in the other woman's eyes.

** 11:30 PM**

"Jenna got out of surgery fifteen minutes ago," the man said. His  
badge identified him as Dr. Harry Jameson, N.E.S.T. surgeon. "We were  
able to remove the bullet completely. The tibia, the main bone in the  
lower right leg, was broken in three places, so we repaired the bone  
with plates and screws."

"Are there any other problems?" Lee asked. "What about infection,  
stuff like that?"

"Well it was an open fracture so we'll have her on antibiotics to  
ward off any infection." Dr. Jameson said. "We cleaned and irrigated  
the gunshot wound before we closed it, but as you know there's always  
a risk."

Lee nodded. Lord knew he'd been shot himself often enough.

"Does she have a cast?" Amanda said.

"She'll have a long fiberglass cast for about four to six weeks."  
Dr. Jameson said. "If everything works out after that we can get Jenna  
in a walking cast and onto some physical therapy. In the meantime I  
don't want her to put any weight on that leg-she should keep it  
elevated and iced." The Doctor's pager bleeped, and he looked at it.  
"They're moving her to the recovery room right now-if you'd like to  
follow me-we need to get you suited up first."

** 11:45 PM**

Jenna's leg hurt. More than hurt, actually-the pain made it feel as  
though it were on fire, and when Jenna tried to move it she found that  
she couldn't. Her face felt so hot, but her body was shivering and  
she didn't know why. What had happened? All Jenna could remember were  
noises and something hitting her leg. A bullet? Shooting. Someone had  
been shooting at them, Dad had been shooting back and then? If  
anything came after that Jenna couldn't recall.

"Wakey, wakey, Jenna," a man's voice said. "I can tell that you're  
conscious. Please open your eyes."

Dad? Jenna thought. No, this wasn't Dad. Dad's voice was  
kind-something about the tone of this man's voice frightened her.  
Jenna she couldn't shake the awful feeling that she'd heard the voice  
somewhere before.

Icy fingers brushed against her cheek, going up and down very gently  
and then-Jenna cried out in sudden pain as her hair was roughly  
grabbed and pulled, causing her neck to jerk painfully backwards.

"Do I have your attention, little girl?" The man's voice said. Jenna  
could feel his breath on her cheek. "Now open your eyes."

Jenna opened her eyes, the small motion sending nausea racing through  
her stomach. She realized that she wasn't lying down but sitting up  
instead. Suddenly Jenna retched, a small rush of bitter liquid rising  
up through her throat and out of her mouth, splashing her lap.

"My my," the man's voice said. "Someone sure made a mess of  
themselves, didn't they?"

Everything was blurry, but Jenna could make out a dark figure in front  
of her.

"Hello, Jenna," the man said. "I've been waiting for some time alone  
with you-pity it had to be like this." Her vision began to clear slowly.

"No," Jenna whispered in horror as she saw the person who was standing  
there.

** 11:50 PM**

Getting suited up', as Lee and Amanda discovered, involved scrubbing  
up and donning caps, gowns, gloves and even face masks. It was very  
important for germs and infections to be kept out of the recovery  
room, Dr. Jameson explained as he led them down the corridor. Just  
then the surgeon's pager beeped. He looked down at it and his face  
paled slightly.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stetson, If you'll excuse me," he said. "Something's  
just come up."

"Is something wrong?" Amanda asked.

"Just a minor irregularity," Dr. Jameson said. "Nothing for you to be  
concerned about. You'll find the recovery room down that corridor-" he  
pointed "-the second set of double doors to your left."

Lee and Amanda walked down the corridor he'd indicated. The sign on  
the top of the door read "Post Anesthesia Recovery Unit."

"This must be it," Amanda said. "But shouldn't there be a guard at the  
door?"

"Maybe he's inside," Lee suggested, his voice muffled by the mask.  
Something about this was starting to make him feel vaguely uneasy-he  
wasn't quite sure why. Lee pushed open the swinging doors, Amanda  
following closely behind. No guard here either. Just a doctor in green  
scrubs and a parrot on his head. The doctor was going through the ward  
from bed to bed, dancing to "Cheeseburger in Paradise," the Jimmy  
Buffet song which was blaring from a nearby boom-box. He was even  
wearing a parrot on his head, Lee noticed. Fluorescent lighting gave  
the scene a vaguely surreal appearance and only added to his uneasiness.

"Amanda, is that guy nuts?" Lee hissed. "It's late at night and these  
children are ill-the last thing they need is to listen to that racket."

"Well, they do say that sometimes music in the recovery room helps the  
children feel better," Amanda said as they walked around, looking for

their daughter. "I volunteered in her quite a few times, you

know."

"You didn't play Jimmy Buffet, did you?" Lee said.

"Well no," Amanda said. "We played soft music to help the children  
relax and sleep."

"At least that makes sense," Lee murmured, watching as the doctor  
whirled around like a dervish. "I sure hope that guy's not looking  
after Jenna. I don't trust a doctor who dances and wears a foam parrot  
on his head."

"You just don't trust any doctors, period." Amanda said. "And most of  
them are actually good people, you know-what?" She said as Lee  
suddenly clutched her upper arm.

"Amanda, we've walked all around the ward," Lee said. His uneasiness  
was fast becoming full-blown panic. "There are twenty beds here and  
we haven't seen Jenna."

Amanda turned around. "Lee, don't be silly. She's probably still  
asleep. We must have just missed-" her voice faded away. "Oh my  
gosh," she whispered.

"There was no guard out there," Lee said. "We should've known  
something was wrong."

"Maybe they took Jenna to a private room," Amanda said.

"So soon after surgery?" Lee said.

"No you're right," Amanda said. "But then where could she-"

"I don't know," Lee said, his mind racing with the possibilities, each  
one more frightening than the last. It felt as though his heart was  
going to beat right through his chest cavity. Lee felt Amanda's  
trembling hand in his and he gave it a gentle squeeze. "With any luck  
she hasn't been taken out of the hospital. Let's see if that doctor  
knows anything, okay?"

"Okay," Amanda said. Cheeseburger in Paradise' had started playing  
from the beginning once again, as if the song were on a loop. But the  
doctor wasn't dancing now. He was standing in the middle of the floor,  
watching as they approached.

"Excuse me, Dr. Amis," Amanda said, reading the name off the tag on  
the man's shirt. "But my daughter just got out of surgery. She's  
supposed to be in this room, only we can't find her. Can you help us?"

The Doctor smiled, bright blue eyes peering out from behind a pair of  
glasses. "Help you?" He said. "Of course I can help you, Mrs.  
Stetson." Reaching into the pocket of his scrubs, he pulled out a  
gun, pointing it at her. Amanda took a step back and Lee stepped in  
front of his wife, protecting her.  
.  
"Dennis," Lee said, remembering the faces in the black and white  
photograph. He was older and greyer, but undoubtedly the same man.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Stetson," Dennis Johnston said. "You must  
have a good eye for faces." He cocked the gun. "Now, hand over your  
weapon, please. I know you're armed. If you don't, I may have to shoot  
you along some of these lovely children. Are you prepared to risk  
their lives as well?"

In the background Lee could hear panicked gasps, children crying, and  
the nurses calling security. Slowly he removed the gun from his  
holster and handed it to Dennis, who slipped it into the pocket of the  
scrubs.

"Thank you," Dennis said.

"Where's the real Dr. Amis?" Amanda said.

"Taking a permanent nap in the supply closet," Dennis said. "Along  
with the security guard who didn't feel like cooperating."

"You mean you killed them," Lee said.

"Well I asked nicely at first, but some people have to learn the hard  
way," Dennis said.

"What about Jenna?" Lee said.

"Well she's alive," Dennis said. "For now, anyway. Such a pretty  
girl, isn't she? Even in a hospital gown."

Lee spoke between gritted teeth, his fists clenched. "If she's hurt at  
all, in any way, I'll-"

Dennis laughed. "You'll what? I'm the one holding the gun, Mr.  
Stetson, and I'd like you to come with me. I think that Jenna would  
enjoy your company. Don't you?" 

** TBC **


	8. Chapter 8

** Rating-PG-13 for violence**

** Part Eight**

** Thursday, November 8, 2001**

** 12:00 AM**

To say that Francine Desmond was exhausted would be an understatement.  
She sat alone in her office, resting her head on the desk and fighting  
the overwhelming urge to just close her eyes and give in to sleep.  
Trouble was, when Francine closed her eyes all she could do was  
picture Jenna Stetson lying in a hospital bed with her leg shattered  
by a bullet. The mental image affected her more than she cared to admit.

First the kidnapping, the trial, the pictures, the threats-and now  
this, she thought. Hadn't that child been through enough for one year?

Surrounding her were mounds of paperwork and background checks on  
every teacher at Kenmore Middle School. None of it told Francine one  
blessed thing. The interrogation hadn't yielded much either. For a  
moment it seemed as though Katie Roberts would cooperate, but then she  
began saying "Dennis will make them pay" over and over like some sort  
of mantra. Francine had ended the interrogation and walked out,  
afraid of doing something to the woman that she might not regret.

A knock on Francine's office door roused her from her fatigued state.  
"Come in!" She called.

It was Leonard Murray, one of the newest field agents. He stood there  
with a sheaf of papers in his hand, nervously fumbling with his glasses.

"Well?" Francine said. "Anything else on those background checks?"

"Yes Ma'am," Leonard said. "We found out who replaced the history  
teacher Mrs. Bryson. It was a Gary Frere."

"Gary Frere?" Francine repeated. There was something strange about  
that name, but at the moment her mind was too fogged to think of what  
it was. "Have you found out anything about him yet?"

"No Ma'am," Leonard said. "That's the other thing I came to tell you.  
We need more time."

Now I know why Billy lived on antacids when he had this position,  
Francine thought to herself. "You haven't got more time," she said,  
raising her voice slightly. "Might I remind you that a little girl is  
in the hospital because of this maniac?"

"We're trying," Leonard said.

"Well you'll just have to try harder," Francine snapped. The phone  
rang and she picked it up. "Desmond here,"

"There's been an incident at Galilee General," Billy said.

Francine's fingers gripped the edge of the desk. "What kind of  
incident?" she said.

"Two men were found dead in a supply closet," Billy said. "A Dr.  
Martin Amis and Agent Haverson. Both men had their throats cut and Dr.  
Amis' identification is missing."

"Where are the Stetsons?" Francine asked.

"Not located as of yet," Billy said. "The hospital went into lockdown  
as soon as the bodies were discovered, so we're pretty sure they're in  
the building. We think Gary's brother is holding them; what we don't know is where.

"Gary's brother," Francine said softly, the pieces finally connecting.  
"Gary Frere-Billy, I know who Dennis Johnston is."

"Francine, at this point what matters is finding him," Billy said.  
"This man has already killed two agents and a N.E.S.T. Doctor. Lord  
only knows what he'll do to the Stetsons. Now I want you to assemble a  
team and get down there."

"I'll be there," Francine said.

**12:30 AM**

"Oh my God," Lee whispered as he looked at his daughter. Jenna was sitting in a wheelchair,her wrists tied to the metal armrests. Her  
head was slumped to one side, her eyes closed and her face puffy and  
slightly flushed. . Lee couldn't tell if she was asleep or  
unconscious. He checked Jenna's pulse, noting that it was weak but  
steady. The fiberglass-encased leg rested on the floor at an awkward  
angle and the thin hospital gown she wore had ridden up around her  
thighs. There was a stain on the gown too- Lee realized that she'd  
probably thrown up on herself-the thought sent nausea racing through  
his own gut.

"We're going to get you out of here," Lee said, not knowing whether  
Jenna could hear him or not. He began to untie her ropes carefully,  
wincing at the pain that shot through his own bruised and bloodied  
wrists. It had taken Lee and Amanda almost a half-hour to free  
themselves and Lee had the feeling that time was running out.

"How is she?" Amanda asked him,

"Well she's alive," Lee said as he finished untying the ropes. "I  
don't see any additional injuries." He didn't want to think about  
possible injuries that he couldn't see right now, not until he could  
wrap his hands around Dennis' throat and make him pay for what he'd  
done. Suddenly Jenna gave a soft moan.

"Munchkin?" Lee said, patting Jenna's cheek and realizing just how  
warm her skin was. "Come on, sweetheart, please open your eyes."  
Turning to Amanda, he said. "I think she has a fever-she's burning up."

"Let me see," Amanda told him, touching Jenna's forehead with the back  
of her palm. Amanda sucked in her breath sharply. "We have to keep her  
warm," she said.Despite the steam coming from the nearby laundry, it

was actually pretty chilly.

"Here," Lee said, taking off the fleece pullover he wore over his  
shirt. "We can use this." With Amanda's help they pulled the large  
fleece over Jenna's head, rolling up the sleeves and pulling it down  
over the child's legs as far as it would go. Amanda pulled the leg  
rest out from the bottom of the wheelchair and carefully lifted  
Jenna's broken leg onto the rest.

"It's not perfect as far as elevation goes," Amanda said, "but it  
might help some of the swelling to go down."

"Now all we need to do is get out of here," Lee said. "Dennis could  
come back any minute and I don't really want us to be in this closet  
waiting for him." He cursed himself for having left his lock-picks  
back at the house.

"Here," Amanda said, pulling something out of her own pocket and  
handing it to Lee, and he stared at the wallet-sized object in  
disbelief. His lock-pick case.

"I don't know why, but I thought it might come in handy," Amanda said.

Lee stared at his wife's face for a moment before pulling her into a  
brief but passionate kiss, followed by a hug. "Have I told you lately  
how wonderful you are?"

"On a daily basis," Amanda said, with a small grin, "But I don't mind.  
Now let's get out of here, Stetson."

**SMK SMK SMK SMK**

"Dammit!" Lee said, looking at the out-of-order sign on the freight  
elevator. In frustration he slammed his palm against the wall."Isn't  
there another way out of this basement?"

"There used to be a regular elevator down here," Amanda said. "But  
they discontinued it years ago since everyone used the freight  
elevator anyway. The only other way is the stairs, and carrying the  
wheelchair would take forever-we can't do that."

"No we can't," Lee said. "But I can carry Jenna." He knelt beside the  
wheelchair and lifted Jenna as gently as he could, trying to keep her  
broken leg as straight as possible. "Let's hurry," he said to Amanda.  
"I don't think we have much time."

"How very accurate, Mr. Stetson," Dennis' voice came from behind them.  
Lee turned around to see the man holding a gun.

"I would've hoped that this wouldn't have to be done so crudely,"  
Dennis Johnston said. "But it seems I have no choice. The only thing  
which remains to be seen is who will I shoot first? Your beautiful  
wife?" Dennis walked towards Amanda, slowly, a leer on his face. "Or  
maybe Mama would prefer to see her child die first."

"Why not let them go and just take me?" Lee said. "I'm the one who put  
Gary Johnston away."

"Do you think I'm stupid, Stetson? You all helped put him away,"  
Dennis' voice was suddenly thick with anger. "He may not have been  
perfect, but he was my brother and he was there for me, after what  
happened to the other children and after what happened to Marcie…sweet  
little Marcie."

"What did you do to Marcie?" Amanda asked.

"Went a little too far," Dennis said, his voice taking on a disturbing  
sing-song tone as he reminisced. "Marcie was going to tell people.  
Gary couldn't possibly let that happen to me, so he took care of it. Which is why I have to  
do this for him. So you see it's not a question of who I will  
kill-more of who will be first." Cocking the pistol, Dennis walked  
closer. "It's a shame I couldn't have gotten to know Jenna a little  
better," he said. "She really does look so much like Marcie-so very  
pretty. But I guess we can't have everything."

Dennis' finger tightened on the trigger and Lee closed his eyes,  
hugging Jenna closer. The sound of a gunshot echoed  
through the corridor.

"Lee," Francine's voice said. Lee opened his eyes to see her standing  
there, gun in hand. Dennis Johnston was laying face down on the  
ground, blood seeping onto the floor around him.

"Thank you," Lee said to Francine. Amanda gave Francine a brief hug.

"How's Jenna?" Francine said.

"She's been better," Lee said. "Right now we need to get some doctors  
to look at her." Jenna stirred in his arms, her dark eyes opening  
slightly and focusing on his face.

"Dad?" Jenna murmured.

"We're here, Munchkin," Lee said, smoothing her tangled and sweaty  
hair back from her face. "Just rest, you're safe now."

"It's over?" Jenna asked him. "Really over?"

"It's really over," Lee said.

He was glad to be able to finally say those words and know that they  
were true.

** Epilogue to follow.**


	9. Epilogue

Notes and disclaimers-see Part One Thanks to everyone again for all  
the feedback and help- you've been great. Some parts of the story I  
was happier with than other parts- mainly I just hope that the story's  
enjoyable:) Let me know what you think.

** Epilogue**

** I.**

** Fever Dreams**

_ Jenna was lost, alone, and beginning to think that there was no way_

_ out of this labyrinth. No matter which way she turned hit another dead_

_ end. But Jenna knew that time was running out. She had to get out of_

_ here, before it came. Jenna wasn't too clear on what it' was, only_

_ that it was a very bad thing. Another corridor to the left, and yet_

_ another dead end. With a hiss of frustration, Jenna kicked the brick_

_ wall._

_ "This is hopeless!" She said._

_ "Don't say that," Glinda said as she suddenly appeared. The light in_

_ the maze was dim, but Glinda's pale blond waves almost seemed to glow._

_ "Do I know you?" Jenna asked her. "It's just that you look so familiar."_

_ Glinda smiled. "I don't think so. Are you having a problem?"_

_ "Yes," Jenna said. "I'm lost."_

_ "Do you need to see Dr. Pfaff?" Glinda asked, and suddenly Jenna found_

_ that she was holding a bowl of ice cream._

_ "I'm not hungry," Jenna told Glinda. "I don't need ice-cream right now."_

_ "Fine, be that way," Glinda said. The ice-cream promptly disappeared._

_ "Can't you help me?" Jenna said. "I mean, really help me? Please?"_

_ "Hmm…" Glinda frowned, tapping her wand against her palm. "Maybe this_

_ can help." With a wave of the wand, Dorothy and the Scarecrow_

_ appeared beside Jenna._

_ "Oh my gosh!" Dorothy gasped, "that was quick. I mean, one minute we_

_ were at home and now- well where exactly are we?"_

_ "Looks like a maze to me," the Scarecrow said. Jenna frowned. Just_

_ like with Glinda, she had the strangest feeling that she knew these_

_ people._

_ Glinda waved her wand and disappeared._

_ Dorothy turned to Jenna, her dark eyes worried. "Sweetheart, do you_

_ need our help?"_

_ Jenna nodded. "I think I'm lost," she said, repeating what she'd_

_ already told Glinda._

_ "Don't worry," Dorothy said, giving Jenna a hug and a kiss on the_

_ forehead. "We'll get you out of this maze-won't we, Scarecrow?"_

_ "Yes we will, munchkin," The Scarecrow said, ruffling Jenna's hair with_

_ his stuffed hand. "The exit should be on the other side of this door,"_

_ Jenna realized that they had been walking all this time. The_

_ Scarecrow tried pulling at the door and frowned, looking at Dorothy._

_ "It's locked," he said._

_ "Lucky you have me here," Dorothy said, rummaging through her picnic_

_ basket. "Here's your lock pick set-sorry if it has a little bit of_

_ straw on it."_

_ "You're a lifesaver," the Scarecrow said, and suddenly he was kissing_

_ Dorothy. Jenna closed her eyes, feeling more than a little embarrassed_

_ by all this. She could hear footsteps behind them-she knew it' was_

_ getting close._

_ "We need to get out of here," she said. Before she could say anything_

_ else the sound of gunfire filled the corridor._

_ "Get down!" Dorothy shouted, and something hit Jenna's leg._

_ "She's been hit, scarecrow!" Dorothy was shouting._

_ Looking up, she saw that the Scarecrow had a gun, and he was firing_

_ back at a dark shape that was coming closer and closer. Glinda had_

_ reappeared and she had a gun too._

_ "You're getting a failing grade in my class, Jenna," the dark shape_

_ said, raising his gun and pointing it at her. Jenna felt Dorothy's_

_ arms around, her, trying to protect her even though Jenna knew there_

_ was no way to be protected from this. The Scarecrow's gun had run out_

_ of bullets and suddenly he was beside them and lifting Jenna up into_

_ his arms._

_ "Take me instead," he told the shape. "Just leave them alone."_

_ "No, Scarecrow, you all have to pay for your crimes," the dark shape_

_ said, coming closer. Jenna felt herself shaking as the shape's shadow_

_ loomed over her, blocking out the light._

_ The shape exploded in a burst of pink sparkles. Glinda stood there,_

_ blowing the smoke from the barrel of her gun._

_ "Jenna?" the Scarecrow was saying, and Jenna tried to answer him, but_

_ a loud roaring noise was filling her ears and she couldn't-_

"Shhh…" a woman's voice was saying. Her mom's voice. A cool hand  
smoothed her forehead. "You're just having a bad dream. It's okay."

"It wasn't a bad dream," Jenna whispered. Her throat felt awfully dry  
and sore, and everything looked so blurry. A straw was put up to her  
mouth and she sipped the cold water.

"Was it a good dream?" Mom asked her.

"A weird dream," Jenna said, fighting to stay awake long enough to  
talk about it. "It was like the Wizard of Oz- you were Dorothy, Dad  
was the Scarecrow-Glinda was Francine and she saved the day." Jenna  
heard a strange sound that sounded like a cross between a laugh and a  
snort.

"That does sound like an interesting dream, sweetheart," Mom said.

"Yeah," Jenna said. "I'm sorry-think I might go back to sleep right  
now, is that okay?"

"It's fine," Dad's voice said. "You get all the sleep you need."

** II. To Make an Ending**

** Friday, November 9, 2001**

** Arlington County Jail**

** 12:00 AM**

The sound of a gunshot echoed around the room, startling the security  
guard from his half-doze. He leapt out of his chair and unlocked the  
door leading to the cell-block. Another guard was already there,  
standing in front of the cells.

"What's going on?" he said. The guard pointed to the lifeless body of  
Katie Johnston Roberts, lying on the concrete floor, the revolver  
still clutched in her dead fingers.

** III. To Tell the Truth**

** Friday, November 9, 2001**

** 8:00 AM**

Jenna woke to sunlight streaming in through the window. She was lying  
in a bed, her leg covered in a bright pink cast and elevated on a  
stack of pillows. Jenna tried to move her left arm and winced as the  
tape holding the IV needle in pulled at her skin. She was in a  
hospital. Jenna's parents were there, sitting beside her bed. Beside  
Jenna sat a small stuffed Teddy Bear, a book, and of course her  
Scarecrow doll.

"The bear's from Billy and Jeannie," Her Dad told her. Jenna noticed  
the stubble on his chin-he looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of  
days. "And the paperback's from Francine."

"I love the bear," Jenna said. She picked up the paperback, looking  
excitedly at the back cover. "Oh cool. Francine remembered I wanted  
this."

"How do you feel?" Mom said. "Does your leg hurt?"

"A little bit," Jenna said. "How long do I need to stay here?"

"Just for another day or so," her dad said, squeezing her hand  
tightly. "Tomorrow you should be back home."

"Good," Jenna said. "I hate hospitals. What about the cast?"

"Well you keep this cast for about a month," Mom said, "Then you'll  
get a different cast –one that you can walk with. How does that sound?"

"It sounds okay," Jenna said. "What happened?"

Mom ran a hand down the side of Jenna's face, then smoothed her hair.  
"Sweetheart, why don't you just tell us what you remember and your  
dad and I will fill in the blanks."

"Well," Jenna said slowly as the memories began to come back. "I  
remember us leaving the house, and noise-somebody shooting at us and  
Dad was shooting back at them."

"That's not-" Dad began.

"Lee," Mom said. There was a warning note in her voice and a strange  
look on Dad's face that Jenna didn't quite understand. "That's right,  
Jenna," Mom said. "Tell us what else you remember."

"Something hitting my leg," Jenna said, suddenly focusing on her pink  
cast and then looking up at her mom. "Was I shot?"

"Yeah," Dad said. "The bullet broke your leg-you had to have surgery.  
Do you remember anything after that?"

"I think-" She remembered pain, and a voice, a scary voice. Taunting  
her while tears of humiliation ran down her face, laughing while she  
was being sick all over herself- Jenna felt her body shaking and she  
closed her eyes, trying to fight off the feeling that the memories  
brought. "-oh my gosh," she whispered as the memory of the man's face  
flooded her mind.

"Jenna," her mom said, "It's okay. You don't have to remember that  
right now if it hurts too much."

"No," Jenna said. "I'm fine. I want to do this. The person, the one  
who- it was Mr. Frere, my History teacher." She said. "And he was the  
one who took the pictures, and put the stuff in my locker."

"Jenna, what did he do when you were, you know, alone with him?" Dad  
said. "Did he hurt you in any way?"

"I don't think so," Jenna said, the memories of that event still fuzzy  
in her mind. "He pulled my hair- but I don't think he did anything  
else. He just kept telling me how he was going to kill all of us."

"I'm just glad that's all he did do," Dad said.

"What happened to him?" Jenna said. "There's not going to be another  
trial, is there?" She really wasn't sure if she could handle another  
trial.

"No, there won't be another trial," Dad said. "He's gone-you don't  
have to worry or think about him anymore."

"He was my favorite teacher, you know," Jenna said. "I really liked  
him,"

"We know you did, sweetheart," Mom said.

"Why did he do it?" Jenna said, not so sure whether she wanted to hear  
the answer. "Did Gary pay him or something?"

"He was Gary Johnston's brother," Dad said. "His real name was Dennis  
Johnston-the only reason he was working at the school was to be close  
to you. It was all about revenge. Jenna. Don't feel bad, okay? There's  
no way you could've known."

"I guess not," Jenna said. "Was he the one who shot me?"

"Not exactly," Mom said. "Gary had a sister. She was working at the  
school too-they were in this together."

"Mrs. Roberts," Jenna said, looking at her parents. "It was her,  
wasn't it?"

"Sweetheart, how did you know that?" Mom said.

"I remember Lisa talking about Mrs. Roberts and Mr. Frere had lunch  
together every day, and how she thought they were in love." Jenna  
said. "What happened to her?"

"Let's just say she's gone too," Dad said. For a moment Jenna thought  
he was going to say something else, but he didn't.

"Well, I guess we know now why she picked me for the dance team, huh?"  
Jenna brushed tears out of her eyes, not quite sure why she was  
crying like this.

"Hey, don't talk like that," Dad said, putting his hand on her  
shoulder. "You were picked because you're good. The school told us  
that once you get out of your cast that spot on the team is still yours."

"It's just that I trusted them," Jenna said. "And all the time they  
were-I feel so stupid."

"Well don't," Dad said. "You're not the first one to trust the wrong  
person."

"No, I guess I'm not. It's funny," Jenna said. "All this stuff has  
only been going on for a few days but it feels like it's been a lot  
longer than that."

"The important thing to remember is that it's over," Mom said. "You  
don't have to worry about it any more." She paused. "Jenna, there's  
something I-well your dad and I want to talk to you about. Don't we  
Lee?"

Lee hesitated. "Yes we do," he said.

"Nothing's wrong, is it?" Jenna said.

"No, sweetheart, nothing's wrong," Amanda said. "There's just  
something that we need to tell you. It wasn't exactly safe for you to  
know before, but now we feel that you're old enough."

"Does it have something to do with why Dad was shooting at those men?"  
Jenna asked. "And all the questions I've been asking you?

"Something to do with that, munchkin," Lee said. "You see, it all  
started about 18 years ago, long before you were born. I had been  
given a package, and I sort of ran into your mom at the train station…"

** The End**


End file.
